Madou Monogatari Saturn, A retelling
by RustyRick
Summary: A retelling of Madou Monogatari for the SEGA Saturn in 1998, altered to include a few original characters and that centers more around the adventure of Arle Nadja and her friends as they journey to combat the dangerous threat of the Yougs that befalls their home, and discover their origins.
1. Prologue

*Author's note: This story is aimed to be a retelling of the events of Madou Monogatari for the SEGA Saturn, so major liberties are going to be taken with the source material. As well that none of the Puyo Fever characters are included, as they weren't created by the time this game was released. With that in mind, hope you'll enjoy the story. *

The sky was a bleak gray color, with thunderclouds razing across the sky everywhere, and the majority of the townsfolk fleeing in panic as they made their way outside the town's gates, trying to escape a horrifying floating eye as it launched several beam attacks towards the ground.

'Quickly! We've got to seek shelter in the forest area!'  
"But where will we go from there?! Those...things will come after us there as well!'  
'We don't have any other options!' After a few minutes, the entire town was entirely deserted, with what seemed to be the thunderclouds being the only noises filling sky for noise.

A lone blonde girl dressed in a red robe climbed out of the basement from one of the buildings. 'Mom...d-dad?' She was biting her lips, fearing for the worst when she stepped outside, and noticed the darkened gray sky, and shouted in fear: 'IS TH-THERE ANYBODY IN HERE?! HELLOO?!' Much to her shock however, a eye materialized in front of her, and her face turned white as it seemed to be charging up a purple energy from it's iris, unable to do anything out of shock.

Though in the brink of time, a fireball hit the eye, disorientating it, and a black-haired girl in brown clothes came to her aid. 'Phoebe!' The eye vanished, and she grabbed the girl by her shoulders, finally regaining her composure and started to breathe heavily. 'Phoebe, I know this is horrible, but I need you to come with me. Danford might know what's going on, and it's not safe here!' Pulling her hand, Phoebe simply nodded as she followed her best friend towards one of the few houses that remained relatively intact after the attack...

Going down the staircase towards the basement of the building, they spotted a young brown-haired boy observing a map laid on the table. Hearing the footsteps, he turned around, and was relieved to see one of them back safe. 'Ah, you returned quickly, Celidia. Did you find Phoebe?' She nodded, Phoebe walkin in as she tried to contain herself from crying any more.

'Phoebe, are you alright?' Danford inquired, but she faintly nodded, whispering what she went through. 'My...my dad told me to hide in the basement when we heard explosions...I just hided close to the corner and stayed there for about 10 minutes. And then everyone disappeared...I have no clue what happened to my parents or the others...*sniff*.

Danford patted her shoulder in comfort, but looked irritated. 'At least your parents tried to hide you...mine were too busy fleeing while I was upstairs to even care about me, those fools.' She grabbed his hand in return. 'No! D-don't think like that, they were scared out of their wits to think logically, like everyone else is...'

Sighing, he simply turned his attention back to the map. 'So, Celidia, I've been carefully watching where those eyeball monsters go to the last few days, and they always seem to hover towards the east after they're done terrorizing before they vanish...' Pointing on the map, he circled his finger around a tower beyond a canyon to the east. 'I assume this is where they make their home...The Heaven's Tower, which has been abandoned for 2 years.'

'Good.' Celidia grabbed whatever she saw in reach in the closets in the basement, grabbing potions, rations and herbs, and put it in a small backpack lying on a seat close to the table. 'W-What are you going to do?' Phoebe asked, to which Celidia simply turned her head around as she put the backpack on her shoulders. 'I'm heading to the tower right now, to see if they're really there, and if it is...I'll put a end to them!'

Dan dashed over to her side. 'Are you crazy?! Cel, you're seriously going to fight those eyeball monsters on your own? Our whole town fears them, let alone get the idea to oppose them!'

'Then what do you propose we do, just spend our days quivering in fear of whatever they might continue to do to our homes?! Dan, my whole family already fled the town a week ago for a neighbouring town, and our friends at school also fled the instant they appeared...this can't go on!'

He was simply silent as she ranted on. 'First these odd plants appeared all over the place, emitted that smoke which made people go crazy...and then soon those eyes appeared...their attacks on our school...I'll never forget that. I'll never forgive them for terrorizing our town either, not while I still breathe...so I'm heading over there and when I see them...I'll eradicate them!' Stepping outside of the building, she braved the horrendous weather and intended to leave the town right there and then, but she heard footsteps coming closer to her, and turned around, Dan rushing to her side wielding a axe and Phoebe carrying a staff.

'Cel...if you're going to do this...then take us with you.' He stated with a stern face. 'Y-Yes...you're right. We can't let this go on.' Phoebe was determined as well to stop this, and Celidia nodded. 'Thanks, I can't express enough how much I appreciate this...come on! While we still have time!'  
'Right, it should be a hour away if we walk on foot.'

A long arduous journey past the treacherous canyon cliffs later, they spotted a large tower on the horizon, the weather was the most horrible around the tower with lightning striking around the top of the tower frequently, already being a clear enough sign to Celidia that this was definetely where those monsters made their base.

Running across the barren plains over a long bridge towards the foot of the tower, Celidia tried pushing the massive wooden entrance open, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even budge it.

'Step aside!' Danford charged forward with his axe, Celidia jumping aside as he swung it right through the doors, creating a hole with 4 swings that he continued to kick apart the splinters so to make a feasable gap big enough for the trio to slip through.

'Careful, don't cut yourself.' Danford helped the girls pass through, and Phoebe remarked upon his strength. 'W-Wow...I never knew you were strong, Dan...'  
'Heh, I frequently went out to chop wood for the family, never knew that would pay off.'

With only a few shimmers of light shining through various gaps in the tower, Celidia muttered some words and made a fireball hover above her hands, noticing how massive the tower truly was from the inside, a darkish gray color dominating all over the interior, with a pale white circular staircase climbing upwards, it seeming more than a mile high until they would reach the top of the tower.  
As the lightning strikes grew fiercer, the trio braced themselves and stepped towards the staircase, only for two of the eyeball creatures to materialize in front of them, and summoned a knight in blue armor, immediately vanishing afterwards. 'Watch out!"

The knight attacked, slashing at the trio with Danford pushing it back slightly, but the knight was emotionless and swung it's sword at Dan, barely hitting his shoulder, and Dan winced from the hit, the knight preparing to attack once more and seriously injure him, but Celidia intercepted him by casting a ice spell that froze it's legs in place, and while the knight was trying to break free, Danford charged at him intending to off him for good with a strong horizontal swing to the hips, only for it to fall apart upon being hit, the armor pieces being revealed to be hollow, and quickly vaporized into nothing.

'Urgh...so they can summon monsters as well now? Wonderful...' Phoebe took care of his shoulder, and they resumed ascending upwards towards the top of the tower, the increasing noise of the weather outside not frightening them in the slightest, though fearful of what awaited them at the top...

Finally reaching the top, they went through a squared hole in the ceiling, and they were speechless about what they saw outside, hovering close to the floor was a gigantic green/brown reptilian creature with skinny claws and a single eye on what seemed to be it's face, lacking a mouth and a lower body.

'What the...' Celidia mumbled out, still in disbelief what they saw, though as lightning struck around them and it started to rain as well, it seemed to telepathically talk to them, it echoing from the creature itself.

"So it seems you miniscule creatures have managed to reach me...but it's in vain.'

Phoebe was quivering, but stood her ground. 'What's that supposed to mean? You're terrorizing our world, and we're here to put a end to it, you demon!'  
Though right then, the eyes all manifested around them, and the creature itself sneered.

'FOOLS! Your world means nothing to me, the devourer of dimensions! I shall scare off your kind as I see fit before I will ravage it beyond your comprehension...this world belongs to Yogusa!'

As the weather suddenly grew more catastrophic, the lightning striked the various woods in the distances, starting fires and the wind started to pick up around them. 'That's what you think, monster! Thunderstorm!' Casting out her strongest spell, Celidia made one of the lightning bolts hit the eye of the massive creature, it whriting in pain.

'GRAAARGH...' The eyes started to attack with laser beams firing from their irises, but Phoebe casted a shielding aura that nullified their attack on Celidia, and Danford attacked one of them as they flew closer to their altitude to attack them through ramming, him slashing one of them succesfully causing it to bleed out purple energy before vanishing in a smoke.

'My eye...insolence...GGRRR!' Grabbing Celidia as she was caught off guard, the creature held her up close to it's eye, squeezing her tightly. 'Nrrgh... can't...move...' She was shivering being held up close to the demon, and the eyes were fighting against Dan and Phoebe.

You fight valiantly, mortals...for that, I shall reward you!' Raising it's hands, the tower began to tremble ferociously and earthquakes shook the whole world apart, cracks emitting all over the ground.

A white vortex emitted close to the edge of the tower, and it tossed Celidia in it. 'AAAAAAHH!' Disappearing in it, Danford and Phoebe were shocked what happened to her, and let their guard down as the eyes rammed them into the vortex as well, both screaming as they disappeared into the vortex as well, it closing afterwards.

As the forests started burning away in the fire and lightning started to strike the ground and screams echoed all over the place, the whole world started to fade away in a white flash.

'Graaa...HAHAHAHAA! ALL OF IT...DISAPPEAR!


	2. Chapter 1: Search in the Forest

'Alright, alright, who's next?' A white slimy-like figure was wobbling around the counter of his store, attempting to aid all of the customers as quickly as he could. 'You, the blonde girl in the red dress, how can I help you?' She stepped forward out of the crowd in the store, and gave him a receipt.

'Mr. Pakista, I've come here to get that new vacuum that I ordered a week ago, I assume you got it in store?' He nodded. 'Yes, it arrived this morning, hold on.' Wobbling to the back of the store, he came back a few seconds later with a large box that he had trouble lifting above his head. The girl took the box from him, reaching with her hands above the counter, and reached in her dress, handing him a handful of dollars. 'Here, 30$, correct?' He accepted it, and counted it quickly. 'Yes, seems in order! Have a nice day!' The girl hurried out of the store with the box in tow, and Pakista quickly scanned through the crowd for who was next in line.

'You, the brown-haired girl in the blue skirt and boots. How can I help you?'  
'Ah, I'd like to order that special spicy curry recipe pack that you have on sale for today. It's enough for roughly two to three people, right?' He reached down under his counter, grabbing one of the boxes, and handed it over to her. 'Here you go. Say, you come in my store frequently, don't you?'

'Mm-hm!' She grabbed the box, and reached for her purse, handing him over the money. '10$, right? Feel free to count it if you're doubtful. ' He giggled at that remark, and put the cash right away in the register. 'Haha, I don't think a frequent customer would try to swindle me so easily. Have a nice day, miss uh...' He scrated his green leaf-like strains of hair on hishead trying to remember her name.

'Arle.' She took the box. 'Right, I'll be sure to remember that. See you later, miss Arle.' She waved goodbye, taking her leave as she carefully navigated through the crowd in the store, until she stepped outside, sighing of relief to be able to breathe some fresh air, and strolled through her hometown of Chestnut Village, noticing that people were either chatting amongst each other on the streets, or the children playing games near the town's fountain in the center of the town. 'Sure seems busy as always...'

'Oh come on, Panny...you promised that you'd help me collect apples in the forest today!' A green-haired elf girl exclaimed amongst the group of child-like figures near the fountain, looking disappointed at another elf-like boy with blonde hair wearing what seemed to be a hat similar to Santa Claus. Right as Arle passed through, the boy started stomping on the tiles in sheer frustration. 'Grr... I told you, I'm not in the mood for it! My special flute's gone missing!'

'Ah!' Dropping her box from the sudden shouting, Arle looked in the direction of the boy. 'Oh, let me get thaaaat...' A small child in a green shirt picked up the box, and gave it back to Arle, her thanking him by shaking his hand, though she felt a bit uneasy by how slimy his hand felt. 'T-thanks...what's wrong with that boy?'

The child turned his head literally to the back, then turned it back to Arle, who was now even more creeped out by it, and took a step back in discomfort. 'Oh, that's Panotty, he's pretty upset that his favorite fluuuute got lost, and at the worst possible time to, as he promised Archan here to help her collect apples in the foresssst.' Arle nodded. 'Ah, I see...should have known.' She walked over to the group, and addressed Panotty, still looking disgruntled at the floor.  
'Say, little boy, you said you lost your flute, right? How about I'll help you—' She was interrupted by him looking fiercely at her and his ears twitching. 'I SAID I DON'T CARE! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU HAG!' He grabbed a nearby twig and broke it in two to vent his anger, Arle quickly running away as to not unintentionally make him even more upset, and dashed away to her home to the edge of the town.

'Geez...always a hothead...' She sighed as she approached her small cabin-like house, grabbing the keys to her front door, but was surprised when she heard something bounce out of the open window to the right side of her house, and jumped on her shoulder to happily greet her. 'Guuu!'

'Ah, Carby! Thanks for looking after the house while I was away!' He hopped on the box she was carrying. 'Gu-gu?'  
'Yes, it's the special spicy curry that you wanted for dinner tonight, right?' He bounced in response, which she simply smiled at. 'Come on, let's go inside!' Opening the door, she placed the box in the kitchen, and donned a cooking attire to prepare the curry ahead, Carbuncle opening the contents of the box and handing her the instructions that were packed along with it.

'Let's see here...butter...check, spices...check...hm?' Noticing a small bit of text with the ingredients section, she read it through. 'For a nice combination of spicy and sweet taste with the curry, try adding in 2 sweet apples with the mix.' Heading to the main living room to check if she had any apples remaining, she was disappointed she was out of any apples, and shrugged, removing her cooking attire. 'Sorry Carby, but I'll need to get a few apples from the store. 'Guu!' He hopped on her shoulder, wanting to come along. Oh, right, well it is boring to constantly remain at home, I know. Come on!'

Closing the door as she left, she sprinted towards Pakista's store, as she noticed the sun was slowly moving towards the horizon. Making it to his store again in a few minutes, she noticed only a few customers were remaining, though Pakista noticed her entering, and made a gesture to the current customer to briefly wait. 'Ah, miss Arle, did you forget something?' She panted as she approached the counter. 'Ha...I was wondering if you still had any sweet apples in store?'

He shrugged his head. 'No, I'm afraid not. Someone came by earlier asking for those as well, but I'm all out of stock regarding sweet-flavored apples, only sour ones still in stock, though. Those alright for a substitute?' She shrugged. 'No, I'm sorry, it has to be sweet-flavored ones for the curry tonight.' She was about to leave, but Pakista commented further on it. 'Hold on. I think that previous customer mentioned that he was going to try and look for fresh ones in the Chestnut Woods close to this town, perhaps you might find a few fresh ones if you try heading there as well? They usually look bright red with yellow streaks for when they're ripe.'

She turned optimistic hearing that. 'Oh, really? Thanks for the tip!' Come on, Carby, let's go before it gets too dark!' She dashed out of the store and towards the town entrance, following the pathway to the east towards the forest that was a mere 7-minute stroll away from the village.

'Hmm...'she looked upwards at the trees as the orange glow of the sunset shined through the thick cover of the leaves onto the branches, for any apples that Pakista described, but none matched the color he mentioned. 'Bah...all I see are green, orange and even black ones...none of the apples look red with a slight yellow color to them, Carby.'  
'Guu...' He was disappointed as well, though he picked up something with his large ears right then, and hurried through the bushes, Arle giving chase. 'What the...Carby, hold up!" She dashed after him, trying to not lose sight of him, and she quickly saw why he dashed off, noticing 2 children also looking in the forest for something, one of them seeming quite familiar to her.

'Huh? Ack!' The green-haired girl pointed her bow at Carbuncle, though she put it down when she saw the older girl appearing right behind him. 'You aren't here to hurt us, right?'  
'No, of course not! I'm just here in the forest looking for apples.' Arle explained to the two, noticing the blonde-haired elf boy from before standing behind the girl.  
'...And I assume you two are here to look for apples and possibly a lost flute as well, right?' He looked surprised by her latter statement. 'H-How'd you know?!'

'Don't you remember me? I heard from one of your friends that you two were planning to search for apples and that you were in a bad mood because you lost your flute, and yelled at me when I wanted to offer you some help in looking for the flute.' Panotty looked to the ground in shame. 'I'm so sorry for how I reacted, miss...it's just that it's my precious flute that I hand-crafted myself, and I can get rather upset when things are going wrong.' Arle patted his shoulder. 'Don't worry, I understand. Did you think you lost it here in the woods?'

He nodded. 'Yes, I did. I was practicing a song for Archan around here yesterday, when I suddenly heard a loud growling noise, and I got scared, so I ran off, but I only realized a few minutes later when I regained my breath that I lost the flute...but I was too scared to go back...*sniff*'

'Please, miss...could you help us find his flute?' Archan also practically begged for her help.  
'Of course! And after we find the flute, we'll look for the apples.' Panotty cheered up from her eagerness to help. 'Yay! Thanks!'

'Guu!' Carbuncle drew their attention towards them, and they spotted a large footprint of what seemed to be of a bear in the ground, and it left a trail of footprints towards the mountainous part of the forest.  
'Whoa...looks like you were right about a growl...these look like the footprints of a massive beast...though it looks like these were made just recently. Maybe he grabbed your flute and made off with it?' Arle looked in the direction of where the trail would lead to.

"R-Right, let's go. I don't want to imagine what he could possibly do to my dear flute!' Panotty ran ahead of the group, the rest following suit, it leading to a small cave, and Panotty stopped there. 'It-it looks dark in there.'  
'No worries! Fire!' Arle casted a fire spell and held up a ball of fire above her fingertip to illuminate the cave, and they immediately spotted what seemed to be the back of a large bear, all three of them shrieking. 'EEE!'

Though when the creature turned around, it's face was revealed to look not like that of a bear at all, rather, seemed to be more akin to the likes of a bird. 'Hnrgh?' It growled, approaching them outside the cave, Carbuncle being the only one to not be immediately intimidated by it, and seemed to talk to him, normally. 'Gu gu, gu gu gu?' The creature responded with a questioning look on it's face. 'Whrooo...' and Arle was the first one to respond. 'Hold up...Carbuncle, can you understand what he's saying?'

He nodded. 'Gu gu gu!'  
"He's called 'Owlbear?' Odd...say Carby, ask him if he's got a flute in his possession.' Carbuncle nodded, and communicated with Owlbear further, the creature nodded and walked inside, the rest approaching him inside the cave further, and were baffled by a huge stack of red with yellow-tinted apples in the back of the cave, with Owlbear reaching between the apples, grabbing a flute. 'Wroo...' 'Gu gu!' Carby pointed to Panotty, and Owlbear handed the flute back to him, Panotty's beaming with relief as he hugged his flute. 'Yay! I'm so glad you're okay, flutey!"

'Thanks, Mr. Owlbear!' Arle smiled to him, though his stomach growled, the creature rubbing it with a saddened look on it's face. 'What's wrong? Are you hungry?'  
"Groo-groo...' 'Gu gu!' Carbuncle translated it further for Arle.  
"You say he's tired of constantly eating those sweet apples, and prefers fish? Hmm...'  
'Oh, there's a pond near here!' Panotty informed the group further. 'Archan, maybe you can try shooting a few fish for Owlbear here to munch on?'  
'Sure! But um...Mr. Owlbear, could we please ask for a trade?' 'Groo?'  
She twiddled her fingers. 'If it isn't too much to ask, could we please have a couple of apples in return? We've been meaning to use a few of those sweet apples to bake a pie.'  
'Groo!' He nodded, grabbing a few of them for Archan to carry in a bag.

'Oh, could I also have two of them?' Arle asked, Archan eagerly giving two to her. 'Sure!'  
The group then travelled to the nearest pond in the vicinity, with Archan readying her bow and easily picking off a few salmon fishes for Owlbear to easily grab in the water, him being very happy to finally eat something different for a change. Satisfied, they waved goodbye as they parted ways.

"Bye, Mr. Owlbear, we'll come back another time to play!" Archan smiled as they left the forest, happy with obtaining what they were looking for in the forest as it started to get dark, though Arle twitched her nose slightly. 'Hmm...'  
"What's wrong, miss Arle?" Panotty asked, him playing a little ditty on his flute. 'It's nothing, but I swear I smelled something...sour...'  
'Hey, I shower regularly!" Panotty rebuked, though Arle shrugged. 'No, I swear it was coming from the forest...meh, it's most likely just some rotten fruit...'

The group returned to Chestnut Village as Archan and Panotty ran off somewhere else on their own, and Arle ran to her home as well, intending to resume her cooking. 'Come on, Carby! I'm curious how this will taste!'

*A few hours later*

Arle was finishing up reading a book for some evening pastime, and noticed that Carbuncle was already snoozing, her carefully picking him up as a bubble emitted from his small nose, and tucked him in bed on top of her large pillow, before changing into her pyjama's and lied down next to him. 'Sleep tight, Carby...' She whispered as she turned off the light, slowly snoozing off as well... 


	3. Chapter 2: In need of assistance

The next morning, Arle noticed the town was in a uproar when she opened up the window to her room. 'Huh...I wonder what's going on.'

She grabbed a mandarin for something quick to eat, and changed in her usual attire, before heading out with Carbuncle in tow on her shoulder. Running towards a small group of people chatting amongst each other, she joined in the conversation. 'Good morning, what seems to be going on?'

'Oh, hello Arle.' A elderly woman greeted. 'Some people ventured towards the forest, and they noticed that some weird fog was hanging around there, and they told us it smelled rather sour.'  
'Sour?' A bell rang in Arle's head as she recalled that. 'Ah! I was in the forest yesterday, and I smelled something sour as well as I was heading out of there.'

A younger man stepped in as well. 'That's not all. Apparently a few travelers got attacked by the usual mostly docile wildlife in the forest as well, and most of the townsfolk are too scared to even come close to the forest now—Look!'

Arle and Carbuncle tilted their heads in the direction of where the man was pointing, and noticed that a small trail of purple smoke was coming out from the woods. 'Whoa! That looks pretty serious! Carbuncle, let's head over there and see if there's anyone in the woods who might be in danger!' She was about to head off, but was interrupted the man. 'Hold it, young lady, it's too dangerous to go there!' She made a small orb of fire to show she knew how to defend herself. 'Don't worry, I'm experienced with magic, I can defend myself if I need to, and I won't do anything risky.' The man nodded. 'Alright, but please be careful!' Running out of the village, she and Carbuncle followed the pathway to the forest, and upon entering the edge of the forest, there was a slight purple fog hanging in the woods, preventing any sun to shine through.

'Darn, that foul stench...no mistake about it, this is what I smelled yesterday as well.' Arle commented towards Carbuncle, but he was alarmed by something in the air, and Arle noticed as well. 'Ah!' A blue Puyo jumped off a tree branch, and charged at Carbuncle, knocking him off her shoulder. 'Hey, cut it out! Fire!' She launched a small fireball at the Puyo, and it backed off, looking pretty agitated before retreating back in the forest.

'It looks like it would be careless to venture further in the forest on our own if it looks like that smoke makes even the Puyo's pretty angry...' Arle sighed, heading out of the forest, Carbuncle also lowering his ears in disappointment. 'Guu...'  
As they walked back to the village, Arle was thinking deeply about what to do with the current situation at hand. 'What should we do, Carby? I don't think any of the villagers would be eager to help us out if they're pretty scared to venture out into the forest as it looks like right now...who should we turn to for assistance?' 'Guu?' Carbuncle mumbled out in her ear.

'Rulue?!' Arle widened her eyes at the suggestion. 'Are you nuts, Carby?' She picked up Carbuncle and looked at him with a dubious expression. 'She usually has some grudge against me whenever we encounter her on our adventures, I don't think she'll be that eager to help us, even if she's pretty strong...' 'Gu, gu!' Carbuncle pointed something out to her.  
'Just keep quiet about Satan?' Arle smiled a bit. 'Yeah, that's it. She only has a problem with me whenever Satan's involved in the matter. If I don't mention him or ensure her that he has nothing to do with it, well, as far as we know anyway, it could be worth a shot.' Arle looked at another path in the distance that branched off from the trail back to the village. 'Let's see...if I remember correctly, her mansion's to the east, close to Waterdew Town, right?' He nodded in response. 'Right, let's go then!'

They travelled across the plains, taking the time to enjoy the sights around them, when Carbuncle twitched his ears, waking up from a brief nap. 'Gu?' Hearing some ristling in the bushes.  
'What's wrong, Carby?' She tilted her head to where he was looking, only to hear something land to the left of her, on the path. 'Ah!' Backing off a bit, she noticed a sword stuck in the ground very close to her, and magically got lifted back up in the air.

'Hold it right there.' A figure dressed in white with blue shoulderpads and wearing a blue cape jumped out from the bushes, and snapped his fingers, making the sword fly right back in his hands, and pointed it in Arle's direction, moving towards the path, facing her. 'Didn't expect that, did you?'

Arle simply put on a slightly irritated look on her face, knowing full well who the figure was. 'Bah, Schezo...how long have you been waiting for me just to pull that little stunt off?' His eyebrows raised in response to that, clearly not amused. 'Bah? That's how you greet me?! I've been waiting all morning here just to ambush you, my greatest nemesis!' She wasn't intimidated in the slightest, and folded her arms. 'All morning? Geez, talk about being obsessed with someone. I can already see where this is going...'

He grinned, and pointed at her in a theatrical fashion. 'I want you!' She facepalmed. 'You know, you should really see a doctor to help with your speech impediment issues...' Only now realizing what he said, he stomped the ground. 'C-curses! I meant to say that I want you to duel it out with me! As for that speech impediment issue, I'll do something about it...right after I prove my superiority over you and your powers!'

Growing more annoyed by his arrogant statements, Arle raised her voice slightly. 'Enough! Just step aside, you moron! I've got more important stuff to do, like seeking help to deal with that strange smoke in the forest near my village!' He sneered at that remark, and purposely stepped closer to her to get on her nerves. 'That smoke? Bah, I could care less about that, most likely is someone trying to brew a potion that got out of hand! But enough of this!' He juggled his sword and caught it in his right hand. 'If you want to pass, you gotta best me—ACK!' Being caught off guard by Arle tossing a fireball in his direction, he barely jumping out of the way. 'Fine, if beating your stupid ignorant butt will make you go away, then let's get this over with.'

'Grr...lightning!' Holding his sword skyward, he summoned a lightning bolt towards Arle, her dodging it, and she retaliated. 'Fire!" Swinging a small stream of fire towards him, he dodged it, chuckling. 'Hehe...' Though he quickly smelled something smoking...'Gah, my cape!' Circling around trying to put out the fire, Arle saw her chance clean to summon a small wave of water to push him off his feet, and dousing the fire.

'Pfft...' spurting out the water he got in his mouth, he got up, now more visibly irritated, and slashed with his sword towards her, creating dark matter waves aiming for her. She countered with lightning strikes from her own hands, and soon overpowered him when he was focusing too much on aggressively gaining the upper hand on her, striking him directly with a lightning bolt and he shrieked from the pain, now forced on the ground, him reaching desperately for his sword before collapsing, forced to regain his health. 'Grr...curse you, Nadja!'

She simply continued walking forward. 'Thanks for this pointless distraction, you dunderhead. Now I've got to hurry!' She picked up her pace, and Carbuncle silently followed along. Her words still ringing in his head, he simply pounded his fist in the grass after he recovered enough to get up, and grumbled. 'Bah...she beat me so easily...I've got to get stronger...nnrgh!' Clenching his side, he grabbed his sword, and began walking towards the bushes again. 'I've got to get home first...'

'That annoying weirdo.' Arle mumbled to herself, Schezo's behavior still fresh in her mind, she tried imitating his voice in a mocking manner. 'Ooh, look at me, all high and mighty, Schezo Whiney the Dork Wizard! I chase after girls to harrass them!' 'Gu...' Carbuncle grumbled along, Arle now sighing a breath of relief as she approached the massive mansion that came in sight.

'Ah, there it is.''Rulue's Mansion.'' She read it off a sign that was marked with large letters as she approached the big pathway towards the estate, noticing the lush plants and flowers decorating the garden surrounding the mansion, as well as...a broken chair?  
Taking a closer look at the mansion as she neared the steps to the front doors, Arle coud spot 2 broken windows on the 2nd floor, and a 3rd one being broken, much to her shock, with a vase flying right through it and breaking on the tiles behind her.

'What's going on in there?!' Arle tried to knock loudly on the door, but she found that the doors were slightly open, and she rushed inside, being greeted inside the vast mansion with loud thuds and screaming from the upper hallway.

'C-CALM DOWN!"

'MOOO!'

Arle spotted the tall blue-haired woman running down the hallway, with a bust of her own image being tossed her way, and she made like the wind to run down the staircase, gasping as she noticed Arle's presence. 'A-Arle! Please! You've got to help me!' She dashed towards her, grabbing her hands with her face looking frighteningly pale.

'Wh-what's going on?!' Arle wanted to know of all things, but she soon saw what was wrong, as a large ox-like creature stomped down the staircase, his unscarred left eye glaring with fierce anger as he brandished his axe. 'GROOOAH!' His voice boomed through the mansion, and Arle was shaking, yet stood her ground. 'What's wrong with Minotauros?! He looks literally steamed with rage!'

'I have no idea!' Rulue barely reacted in time to him charging at her with his axe, and she pulled an acrobatic flip to the right, dodging his swing. 'W-We gotta make him calm down! Icestorm!' Arle shot a cold stream of air from her hands towards the mad beast's feet, but it only agitated him, easily breaking his feet free from it, and he focussed his attention on Arle, steam litterally pumping from his nostrils as he scraped his feet on the floor, before charging with his horns towards the mage. 'Eeek!'  
'Guu!' Carbuncle shouted, as a dazzling light emitted from the gem in his forehead, which blinded Minotauros, as he covered his eye during the charge, Arle reacting just barely to dive out of the way and making him crash with his head against the wall, a loud thud echoing throughout the whole mansion, and he was barely able to keep his footing, dropping his axe as his eye rolled around, groaning. 'Muuooo...'' 'Hiyaaa!' Rulue took the chance to deliver a roundhouse kick to his jaw, knocking him headfirst against the floor out cold, and Rulue breathed from relief.

'T-Thanks, Carby!' Arle hugged him tightly against her face, before turning her attention to Rulue. 'Rulue! Did you really have to kick him that hard in the face?' She dismissed her comment. 'Bah, don't worry about him, that idiot's bones are made of concrete stone. Trust me, I've seen him survive worse.' She turned her attention to Arle as well, wiping off the dirt from her clothes. 'Speaking of which, why did you actually come over here to begin with? It's rare to see you drop by my place.' Arle sat down on a nearby chair to regain her composure as well. 'It's a bit complicated Rulue, but do you mind explaining me first why Minotauros went totally nuts there?'

'Hang on, I need something to drink first...' Walking into the kitchen, she returned a few seconds later with 2 glasses of water, handing one to Arle as she took a sip from her glass. 'I have no clue as to why, to be frank. I asked Mino to go buy me some sweet-flavored apples yesterday, and he told me he couldn't find any in the shops, so he collected a few from Chestnut Forest. That's not far from where you live, right?

'Yes, that's right. But hold on! Rulue, that's why I came over here.' Rulue raised her eyebrow in a questioning manner. 'I went looking for those very same apples in the woods as well, and when I left, I smelled something sour, and this morning, my whole village is in a uproar because some weird smoke is coming from the forest, and it seems it makes the local wildlife go crazy as well. Maybe...Minotauros came close to wherever that smoke was coming from yesterday, and it took effect on him just now!'

'Smoke that makes you go berserk? It's a bit hard to believe, but it's a good guess as any.' Noticing that Minotauros' body was slightly twitching, the two getting up and carefully approached him, unsure if he recovered by now.

'Uwoo...' He slowly got up, rubbing his head and his jaw. 'W...why's my head and jaw tingling all over...?' They knew enough, and helped him get up on his feet and placed him on the chair Arle was sitting on, while Carbuncle was drinking away the rest of the water in the glasses.

'Mino, can you remember anything that happened before you went to sleep last night?' He scratched his head in deep thought. 'Uhh...let's see...I ventured into the forest to collect those apples you wanted...but after I was done, I smelled something...sour, yes, sour! Think it was coming from a cave not far from where I plucked the apples, so I took a brief look there, and the stench was really strong there, so I made like the wind and returned home. Then after I went to sleep...I recalled nothing...as if I just woke up from a bad nightmare now.'

Rulue reacted furiously when he was done. 'Oh, bad indeed, FOR ME THAT IS!' He jumped up from her sudden angry tone. 'You just barged out of your room, into mine, and thrashed a good deal of my property! Do you have any idea how much money's worth of damage you caused?!' He got on his knees and begged. 'F-Forgive me, Mistress Rulue! I'll clean it up right away!' He was about to run off, but Arle tapped him on the shoulder. 'Y-Yes? What is it, miss Arle?'

'Minotauros, you said you saw a cave close by where you picked up apples in the forest where that weird smell was coming from, right?' He nodded. 'Um, this might be weird to ask, but would you like to guide me where that cave is, if you wouldn't mind doing so?'

'Sure, I still have a good idea of where that cave exactly was.' Rulue made a alarming cough, glaring at her bodyguard. 'Er, after I'm done cleaning the mess, of course!' He dashed off, leaving Arle and Rulue to discuss things further. 'So, you came here to ask for aid with that strange problem in the forest, right? I'll be going with you as well then!' Arle almost dropped her jaw hearing that. 'D-Do you mean that?! Thanks alot Rulue! But...why do you want to come along, if I might ask?'

'I owe you for assisting me with calming down that brainless fool and there's no telling if you'll be safe in case he'll happen to inhale that weird stench again and go nuts again, so I'll be needed to keep him in check!' She looked at the clock. Right, it's about time I'll go and get prepared for the trip. Feel free to grab something to eat from the kitchen if you want to, but hands off the turkey for tonight's dinner, got it?' She got up and ascended the staircase to her quarters.

'Guu?' Arle petted him on the head. 'Well, at least we managed to get some help like what we came for! She got up and went outside first to try and assist Minotaurus in cleaning up the damage he made before they would set out for Chestnut Forest again...


	4. Chapter 3: Chaos in the Caves

No longer feeling much pain over his body, Schezo now walked more normally as he entered a small forest area past the bushes, and proceeded through it, a small abandoned house coming into view close to a lake. 'Finally there...' He approached the house's front door, intending to open it, only for the door to already slightly open in front of his face, and a cat-like creature popped out, jumping on Schezo's shoulder and wrapped his tail around his neck, greeting him. 'Meooww.'

'Heh, I'm happy to see you as well, Lynx, but I need to get inside and brew a potion first to get back in shape...' Schezo gently put him down as he closed the door behind him and proceeded towards what seemed to be the kitchen area, opening up a separate closet filled with various odd ingredients alchemist bottles. He started working on an elixir to fully revitalize himself, Lynx giving him the necessary bottles with his long tail while he was busy sorting out the right ones during the brewing.

Though they were unaware that someone was hovering above the water, observing them from a distance. 'Hm...he wields dark magic as well...' the figure floated towards the house.

'There we go.' Holding the potion towards his mouth, he took a deep breath and swallowed it down, coughing a bit from the odd lime-like taste, but he felt himself rejuvenated almost instantly, and petted Lynx's head. 'Haha, that's better. Now what to do next?' He stared at the lake. 'How can I possibly attain stronger power to stand a chance against Arle...' Lynx purred, and Schezo moved his head closer to the Persian, widening his eyes at what the cat mumbled in his ear.

'What?! Ask that insufferable Witch for help?!' He grumbled. 'I don't exactly like her attitude...but maybe she knows a thing or two...huh?' He noticed Lynx suddenly jumped off his shoulder, and hissed at the front door, it being opened slowly. Schezo grabbed his sword, and stepped towards the door, a purple-cloaked figure with demonic ears and black hair entering inside, apparently female from her facial features.

'Hmhm...forgive me for entering in your little living quarters, but I've noticed your magic strength...' She smiled faintly with devious smirk on her face, and Lynx instinctively jumped towards her, but she grabbed the cat with some dark aura, emitting from her left hand and froze him in place. 'Bah, don't interrupt me, cretin...' Schezo was startled by her quick reflexes, but pointed his sword further in her direction, visibly angered. 'Let Lynx go this instant, or else—what?!' He felt his sword pulled from his hand by the sorceress' other free hand's aura, and it flew in her hand, her taking a closer look at the blade.

'Not bad...not only do you also wield dark powers, but you're also a adept swordsman, judging by the craftsmanship of this sword...' Schezo snapped the sword back in his hands, and stepped back slightly, visibly intimidated by her powers. 'W-What do you want from me?' She smirked.

'A man who gets to the point? I like that. Let me be direct with you. I seek help with a little objective, and I think you'd be of great help...inexperienced, but with great potential. You'll help me, and I'll be sure to repay you dearly for it, for example with the garantueed safety of this little kitty here.'

'I don't help anyone who threatens Lynx, you hear me?! Now release him at once, or—ARGH!' Being struck by a sudden jolt of black magic behind him, he lost consciousness, and fell to the ground. 'Bah...' She stepped forward, inspecting his body. 'I don't think you're aware of who you're dealing with here.' She thought to herself, though she then sensed something in his body...something wicked. '...I think you might be of some help to me after all.' Mumbling a wicked spell, she extracted some black substance from his body, and formed it as a small orb in her hands, placing it in her cloak. Hissing, Lynx tried to claw with his little paws in her direction, but to no avail, as she grinned deviously to him. 'Oh, don't worry, I can find some use for you as well, kitty...' She left the house, leaving the unconscious Schezo behind.

The group saw the forest appear in the far distance as they came close to Chestnut Village, and Rulue was baffled by the thick purple fog that has clouded the forest. 'Wow, you weren't joking, Arle. It looks pretty serious.' They entered the forest, and were greeted by a few of the Puyo looking pretty agitated, but they quickly dispatched them without too much effort. 'Ha...come on, we've got to get to that cave Minotauros mentioned.' Arle looked at Rulue's servant. 'Minotauros, can you still remember where that cave was, even with this thick smog?' He nodded. 'Yes, I have a pretty good idea where it was. To the right from here...' He walked ahead, the others following him as they were cautious of any other wildlife that might attack them out of nowhere.

They were fortunate to not run into any other nuisances so far as they saw a mountain come into view in the deeper parts of the forest, and could make out a large cave close to it's footing, with the fog apparently flowing out of there at a slow rate.  
'Moo...this is it.' Minotauros carefully approached the entrance of the cave, though Rulue hurried towards him, grabbing his broad shoulder. 'Hold up there, Mino! It looks like the fog's pretty thick in there, I don't want you heading in there.' Though he wasn't paying attention to her, his gaze focused towards the cave. 'Hey, are you even listening to me, oaf?!' He carefully pushed her back a bit, and put his axe in front of him. '...I hear footsteps, something is coming this way!'

'Groo...' A faint sound came from the cave, and they stepped back, a large bear-like creature stepping out of the entrance, looking at them with an intimidating glare. 'GROO!'  
'Owlbear!' Arle expressed shock that the kind creature from yesterday would be affected by this as well, and he swiped his claws wildly around to warn them, wanting them to back off.

'You know this beast?' Rulue inquired, also standing in a fighting stance to defend herself. 'Uh-huh, he was pretty kind yesterday when he helped me and two children, but it seems he's gone mad from this smoke as well...' She launched a fireball towards Owlbear hoping to scare him off, but he simply swiped his claw at the spell and flung it aside into a bush. 'Groo!' He rushed towards Arle, Minotauros stepping in to push him off, but Owlbear wasn't having any of that, and he started swiping his claws at him. 'Grr...' He dropped his axe and carefully grabbed his arms evading the swipes, and tried holding him in place, though Owlbear seemed to be pretty strong as well, and Minotauros was trembling in place, not being able to hold him in place for very long.

'Hang in there!" Arle encouraged Minotauros, though Rulue tried aiding him with delivering a kick to his side, though he didn't felt much due to his thick hide, and Carbuncle noticed something. 'Guu!'  
'What is it, Carby? Oh, his butt? Ah, I see...' She dashed behind him, careful to not draw his attention, and formed another fireball in her hands. 'Fire!' She flung it towards his behind, setting it on fire, and Owlbear felt it stinging in his behind, and screamed, flailing his paws in a attempt to put it out. Rulue noticed a small pond close to where they were fighting it, and she got an idea. Waiting for Owlbear to come close to the edge, she dashed forward and kicked him with all her strength, pushing him off the edge and with a giant splash in the water. 'That ought to give him a cold wake-up call...' She sighed, hurrying to Minotauros' side to check up on him. 'Mino, are you alright?'  
'Moo...' He rubbed his left arm slightly. 'I'm fine, Mistress Rulue...just a small scratch, that's all...'

Arle was relieved as well, though she noticed something rising from the pond and climbing out of from the edge. 'Ah, he's back!' They stood ready for any possible retaliation from Owlbear, but much to their surprise, he seemed to look docile again, and grumbled, shaking his wet hide. 'Groo...'

'Mr. Owlbear...are you alright?' Arle approached him, the creature nodding. 'Gu gu guu!'' Carbuncle communicated with him, and Owlbear nodded, hurrying out of the forest. 'Sorry about that!" Arle shouted to him as he left. 'Carby...did you tell him to get out of the forest and wait in the fields until this is over?' He nodded, earning him a small pet on his ears from her. 'Thanks!'

'Arle, don't get all cheery yet, there's still that issue with that smoke we've got to investigate...' Rulue commented, grabbing Arle's attention, and they approached the cave again. 'Odd...this wasn't Owlbear's home cave, yet he emerged from this...maybe he was hypnotized to guard something in here?'  
'Hmm...that's a good possibility, most likely whatever's causing that smoke in here...' Minotauros mumbled, as they stepped forward into the cave, them coughing from the smoke that seemed to be much more thicker inside, and they were barely able to see much ahead of them. 'Erg...be careful to not inhale too much of this!" Arle held a hand in front of her mouth, trying breathe carefully with her nose, feeling a bit agitated, but otherwise fine. Minotauros and Rulue nodded, doing the same thing, though Carbuncle was strangely not affected much by it, looking mostly cheery as usual. 'Gu?'

'Huh...it doesn't seem to affect your pet much though, Arle.' Rulue was questioning why, but as long as he wasn't affected by it, she didn't complain. 'Come on, we've got this far, we gotta press on!' Arle formed a small orb of fire from her hands, holding it in front of her as it lighted up the cave somewhat and allowed them to see a bit further ahead. Venturing forward, they ran into very few other hostile cave dwellers that Rulue and Minotauros took care of easily, though they were at a crossroad when the cave split into two pathways, and they were wondering which way was the correct one.

'The smoke doesn't seem thicker in either way...seems we'll have to split up.' Rulue suggested, though Minotauros was quick to object. 'M-Misstress Rulue, why split up? We need to stick together so to not be ambushed!' She scoffed at his remark, being stubborn to her decision. 'Bah, don't get so pigheaded, Mino! We'll double our efficiency with the search this way, and we'll meet up here within a few minutes if we don't find anything, then see from there what we'll do.'

'That...doesn't seem too logical.' Minotauros inclined, though Rulue glared at him. 'Bah, fine, then you'll accompany Arle as punishment, got it?!' He widened his eyes hearing that. 'Mi...Mistress! No, I must object! I'll accompany you to the bitter end if necessary!' Rulue shakes her fist in anger, growing easily more irritated with the second due to the smoke. 'Enough! Just get out of my way!' She dashed off to the right, leaving Minotauros behind with Arle and Carbuncle. 'No! Mistress!" Arle grabbed his shoulder to calm him down. 'Just obey Rulue for the time being and follow us to the left, okay?' He nodded silently. 'It's better to just do as she wants and explore the other part. We don't want her to turn against us, do we?'  
'No, you're right...' They wandered off to the left, Minotauros looking behind him briefly. 'Mistress...be careful.'

'That annoying moron, thinking he's smarter than me...' She mumbled out loud to himself, though the smoke was partially starting to influence her thoughts, and she coughed from inhaling the smoke as well by now, though she thought she heard some faint noises in the distances, and came closer, hiding behind a big rock as she peeked her head out to barely spot something huge, with two figures in front of it talking to themselves.

'Hmm...still nothing, it seems the smoke's getting less thick here, actually...' Arle squinted her eyes as the trio moved on ahead in the separate pathway, though Minotauros was still visibly distraught over letting Rulue dash off all by herself. 'Hmmrrgh...I should have gone with her, even if she would have kicked me so hard in the chest I'd feel it for 3 days straight...' He mumbled out loud, grabbing Arle's attention. 'Hey, she's pretty tough, don't worry too much-*THONK* bumping her forehead against a wall while talking, she grunted rubbing it slowly. 'Moo, are you okay?' Mino grabbed her gently, helping her get up on her feet. 'I'm fine...looks like this is a dea—'

'GRR, LET GO OF ME! HRAAAA!" They heard a loud voice echo throughout the cave, and Minotauros immediately rushed off, Arle following suit. 'Mistress Rulue!' They arrived back at the point where they split off. 'Right, we came from the right, so we should head left!' Arle pointed in that direction, though she took a step back as she felt a slight gust of wind, something speeding past them at high speed. 'Gah!' Barely noticing what passed them, she could make out that they were heading for the exit by going to the right.

'Moo! We gotta check on Mistress Rulue!' Minotauros rushed off once more, Arle barely being able to keep up with Carbuncle hanging onto her shoulder. 'W-Wait up!' As they ran past a big rock, they noticed something massive, apparently a purple plant spewing out all that smoke, and Rulue was close to it as well, walking towards them. 'Mistre—UOORGH!'Minotauros approached her, only for her to forcefully push him towards a wall with one hand, and glared at Arle, her eyes glowing red with fury. 'Pathetic imbeciles!' She shouted out, flexing her arms and legs. 'R-Rulue?! Oh no...she's inhaled the smoke too much from that...thing!" Arle was nervous, but Carbuncle reassured her to stand her ground. 'Guu!' 'R-Right...we just have to knock some sense into her.' She laughed maniacally. 'Whohoho! ''Knock some sense?!' I'll be sure to knock you out, QUICKLY!' She cracked her knuckles and dashed over to Arle, attempting to punch Arle straight in the face, only for her to barely duck and jump out of the way, Rulue hitting a rock instead, shattering it into pieces, with Arle now visibly trembling. 'T-Thunder!" She attempted to hit Rulue with a bolt of lightning, but due to her nervousness, she hit her feet instead, and Rulue slightly flinched. 'Gah! Grrr!"

Though unexpectedly, Minotauros managed to sneak behind Rulue, and wrapped his arms around hers, attempting to restrain her. 'HRRRNGH, I'LL BREAK EVERY SINGLE BONE IN YOUR BODY!' Though he wasn't intimidated by her threats, and shouted: 'Arle! Destroy that plant, it might restore Mistress Rulue back to norm—Guh!' He was flinching as he felt Rulue started to deliver blows to his stomach using her elbows, but he braced the pain, trying to buy Arle time.

'Right!' She looked at the massive plant which continued to spew out purple smoke. 'Here goes...fire!' She tried launching a fireball at the plant's roots, but it only started a small fire. 'Urgh, this won't do. It's shell looks very durable...ah!' Getting an idea, she scanned her surroundings. 'Gu!' Carbuncle pointed towards something. Arle ran over there, picking up Minotauros' axe trying to hold it above her head, and ran towards the plant, letting the massive weight of the weapon do the work and plunged it into the plant's shell, causing a small opening in it's thick coating.  
'Ergh, it's leaking some purple liquid...Carbuncle, help me out please!'  
'Guu!' Standing in front of the plant, he fired off a red laser from the gem in his head straight into the gap, causing a fierce rumbling within the plant as it glowed red, ready to explode. 'GET AWAY!' Arle screamed as she picked up Carbuncle and ran off, Minotauros firmly grabbing Rulue and got away, both being launched slightly from the explosion, and they opened up their eyes a few seconds later to notice that the smoke was now diminishing, Arle sighing from relief.

'Whew, glad that's over with, thanks Carby!" She hugged him tight. 'Gu!'  
Minotauros grumbled as he slowly got up, noticing that Rulue was slowly opening up her eyelids as well. 'Mistress Rulue...are you injured?' She felt dizzy and tingly all over her body, though soon enough noticed something firm gripping her front, and she trembled slightly.

'Mino...why are you holding me like that?...' Suddenly realizing just where exactly he was holding her, he immediately got off her. 'M-Mistress! It isn't what you think it—EEURGH!' Feeling her knuckles ram straight against his snout, Minotauros squealed in pain as Rulue's face was boiling with anger. 'HOW DARE YOU?! AND TO THINK YOU WERE JUST SERVING ME ALL ALONG OUT OF LOYALTY! YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!" She was about to beat the living heck out of Minotauros who shivered against the wall still rubbing his snout, when Arle grabbed her by the shoulders. 'Rulue! Calm down! It isn't what you think it is!'

She took a deep breath, and glared at Arle. 'What, that my servant isn't taking advantage of me?!'  
'If it weren't for him, we'd most likely not even be standing up right now.' Rulue was at a loss what Arle meant with that. 'What? Please explain to me what you mean with that!'  
'After we split up, Minotauros and I heard noise coming from this direction, and we ran over here, only to find you totally out of your mind and about to trash us thoroughly, and Mino had to forcefully restrain you so I could do something about that plant!'

Rulue was reminded of something when Arle mentioned a plant. 'Really?! Well, come to think of it, I don't remember much after we split up. I vaguely recall seeing two weird-looking creatures talking to each other, but I didn't quite catch what it was they were mumbling, then they noticed and grabbed me, forcing me to inhale that weird smoke from something huge, and then...well nothing. I felt like I was having a horrible dream and just woke up. Well, rather rudely!'

'Wait, we saw something speed by us before running into you. It could be those figures that forced you to inhale that smoke! Rulue, you sure you don't remember what they looked like?' She put a finger under her chin. 'Not much, but I could clearly see wings on one, and um...the other had a long jaw and felt scaly...' Arle sighed. 'Well, at least we know that this isn't just some weird natural occurrence if those creatures have something to do with it.' Rulue nodded in agreement. 'Right, but what happened to that big thing?' She looked in the direction of where she remembered it standing, only now seeing a small hole in it as the smoke now fully cleared out of the cave. 'It was a giant plant that was emitting that foul smoke, Carbuncle destroyed it with a laser.' Rulue petted Carbuncle on his head as a means of thanking him. 'Heh, thanks little guy.' She turned her attention towards Minotauros, who was quivering, expecting her to strike him again. 'M-Mistress, I'm sor—'  
'Mino, are you absolutely sure that you were just grabbing me like that out of protection for Arle and Carbuncle as they claim so?' He nodded. 'Uh-huh. Mistress Rulue, I serve you loyally, and I would never think of ever taking advantage from you considering your kindness towards me.'

She pet his shoulder slightly. 'I'm sorry for that...outburst, and for not listening to your advice.' He smiled faintly. 'M-Mistress...uuhuh...' Though Rulue was quick to act beyond that act of gratefulness. 'Come on, let's get back to the village first and tell what we saw, Arle.'  
They followed Rulue out of the cave. 'Right.' Though Arle was quick to notice Minotauros slightly shedding a tear from his eye. 'M-Mistress Rulue...I'll always stay loyal to you...heheheh...' Though Arle was not sure what to make of his odd mumbling there.


	5. Chapter 4: Trouble in the Ruins

'The cause of that smoke was some strange kind of plant?' One of the villagers asked to Arle as they explained what happened in the caves. 'Yes, it really was rather threatening-looking, but Carbuncle took care of it, isn't that right, Carby?' 'Gu!' He nodded in agreement. The villagers all chatted amongst themselves, being relieved that the strange threat in their area was dealt with, though a younger boy approached Arle.

'Miss, can I ask you something?' She nodded. 'Sure, go ahead.'  
'Um, since you took care of that strange smoke in the forest, could you please go to Waterdew Town and see if there's anything wrong there?' Rulue stepped towards the boy upon hearing that. 'Waterdew Town? Why exactly there?' The boy looked rather sad. 'Well, I have a friend who lives in Waterdew Town to the east who visits this village frequently, and he told me a few hours ago before going home that he spotted some strange smoke coming from the ruins in the far distance as well...maybe it's something similar to what happened in Chestnut Forest?' They couldn't believe it, but the boy's tale wasn't being made up by the sound of it.

'Sounds like there's another one of those plants near my hometown as well...' Rulue sighed, being stressed simply from the thought of one of those things growing close to where she grew up. 'Mistress, don't be discouraged.' Minotauros tried to cheer her up. 'We know what's causing that smoke, and we simply have to avoid breathing it in too much.' She smiled faintly. 'You're right, this shouldn't be that hard to deal with. Thanks, Mino.' She looked at her wristwatch. 'Hmm, it's still early in the afternoon. If we depart now, we'll make it there while it's still day.' Arle walked ahead. 'Right, let's go!' The small group departed without a moment's delay towards Waterdew Town.

Though around the same time, not far from said town...

'Hmm, this seems like a safe spot.' The winged female creature carefully descended on a grassy plain close to a lake, and allowed her scaly companion a safe landing, releasing him from her claws. 'Grr...she was pretty strong.' The scaled male creature carefully rubbed his left eye.  
'Shree...' The winged one inspected her tail. 'But how did she manage to get so far without inhaling the smoke?' 'Hearing some footsteps, they turned around in a alarmed state, but were relieved to find it was a cloaked figure in purple. 'Mistress!' The winged one flew towards her.

'Back so soon already?' She raised an eyebrow. 'How does it look like in the forest?'  
'Skree! It's progressing splendidly, we planted it last night, and it already started to cover the whole forest now!' Though the scaled one pushed her aside, still rubbing his eye. 'Bah, but we ran into some trouble...' The sorceress noticed his eye. 'Hm? What trouble, and what happened to your eye there?'

He hissed. 'It was some blue-haired woman...we were checking up on how it progressed a few minutes ago, but that wench was spying on us, and we grabbed her, forcing her to inhale that smoke by pushing her face close to the plant's opening.' His female companion also added to his explanation. 'But she resisted fiercely, and she left a mark on us both...my tail still stings from her biting...eergh...' Though the sorceress suddenly looked towards a different direction, sensing something. 'Anyway, so we made like the wind and got out of—uh, mistress?'

'The plant...it's been destroyed!' She grumbled, gripping her cloak in frustration. 'Skree! Truly?!' She flapped her wings upwards towards the sky, and noticed that there was no longer any fog emitting from the forest they just came from, and she widened her eyes. 'Graah!' Descending, the scaled male went to the lake and put some cold water on his eye. 'And, is it true?' She nodded in disappointment, him hissing in return. 'Blast...but she can't have done it by herself, she was clearly under influence when we left...maybe she had companions that did it?'

The sorceress snapped her fingers, grabbing their attention. 'Bah, it seems that there are some fools who are smart enough to resist the smoke and do something about those plants...it seems one of our Lord's eyes is at work in the ruins, so we must not let those fools get near it.' Getting an idea, she reached within her cloak, and grinned at the black orb she held in her hand. 'Hm, and I think I know who might be able to assist us with that. 'Mistress? What is that?' The scaled one asked her.

'Some essence from a fool that I stole, and now...ha!' She tossed the orb with a high velocity towards the ground, shattering it, and the black ooze from within flowing together, forming a person.  
'Skree!' The winged one was intimidated as the person got up, looking around him.  
'Bah...free at last...huh?' He noticed the sorceress standing in front of him. 'Hmm, you were the one who freed me, right?' She nodded. 'Yes, and I can sense your desire for chaos...in fact, I desire that you aid me with your strength!' He grinned deviously. 'Haha, not a problem.' She grinned in return, turning her attention towards the duo.  
'Phoenix, Crocovile, I leave the surrounding area to you two. Seek any potential places to plant more of the seeds, we'll handle things around the ruins.'  
'Got it, Mistress!' The two rushed off towards the lake with the scaled one jumping in the water and the winged one taking flight.

'Uurgh...' Schezo got up, rubbing his head in confusion, though he realized quickly that he was still in his home, and scanned the area. ''Where'd that wench go?! Lynx?!' He ran outside and screamed at the top of his lungs. 'LYNX?!' Only a dreaded eerie silence followed by the slight chirping of the birds around him filled the air, and he clenched his fist in anger. 'No...she must have taken him with her...' He snapped his fingers, expecting his sword to materialize in his hands, only for it to remain flat on the ground. 'W...wha?' He snapped his fingers again, swearing that it always worked, no matter how, but the sword didn't move an inch. '...Did that wench also take my powers?!' He picked up his sword normally, and curious, he casted a small fire ball spell towards the ground, outside, which did work.  
'I still have some ounce of magic left within me...she'll pay for this!' He stomped out the fire, locked the door behind him, and ran off into the forest trying to look for any possible trails that sorceress left behind...

The group entered the town gate after a hour of travel, and they looked around the town, most of the villagers seeming to mind their own business wandering into buildings for shopping or regular visits. 'Hmm...seems like nothing out of the ordinary for me...' Minotauros noted as they wandered through the streets, though Carbuncle yanked on Arle's ear, his voice not possible to reach her with all the racket going on.

'Huh? What's wrong Carby?' 'Gu...' He pointed towards a playground to the left, where various kids were chatting amongst themselves, apparently pretty shocked from their tone and their facial expressions. 'Hmm, Rulue, Minotauros, let's head over there. Maybe those kids know a thing or two about some smoke.' They followed along, and approached the small group of children.

"No way, are you saying that the ruins to the north are really haunted?' A red-haired girl in a white dress addressed a young individual wearing what seemed to be a sleeping hat and oddly enough sported a single large left foot. 'Yeah, I am! I wandered off there early this morning to collect some berries growing on the bushes close to the ruins, and I saw some strange smoke hovering around the place, so I ran off home, and I just got back from warning my friend in Chestnut Village too! You all should stay clear from it!'

Arle made a connection the instant he mentioned some ruins and Chestnut Village. She tapped the boy with the giant foot on his small arm. 'Eh? What is it, miss?'  
'Um, sorry if I sound like a nosey person, but I heard you mentioning Chestnut Village, right?' He nodded. 'Uh-huh! Why do you ask?'  
'I live in that town.' Surprised, he turned to her. 'Eh? Why did you come all the way over here then? Oh, please don't tell me the smoke has reached the village now as well...' He looked saddened towards his feet in disappointment, but Arle smiled softly. 'No, you silly! Me and my friends took care of that smoke, it's gone from the forest now!'

His face beamed from hearing that. 'Wow, really?! Then um...could you please do something about that smoke that's hanging around the Nocturnal Ruins?' Rulue thought about what he said. 'Nocturnal Ruins? Isn't that the remains of an old temple that used to stand there over 500 years ago?' Rather than the big-footed boy, the green-haired one stepped in on the conversation. 'Yes, it's pretty frightening-looking at night, hence the name, but if you go there, you should be careful!'

'Why exactly?' Rulue approached the girl. 'Well...I was away last night on a stroll, and I was thirsty so I bought something to drink from a frog merchant, and when I passed by the ruins, some scary skeleton approached me, and he demanded I gave him my drink. I refused since I naturally bought it, and he wrestled it out of my graps, took a sip from it, and tossed it at my head yelling something about it not being tasty enough!' She was close to bursting out in tears about it, when another blonde-haired girl had something to remark towards her. 'Wait, you went out on your own, Merigu? But...we're always together!'

'I-I'm sorry Emii!" The green one apologized to her. 'But I just had to go out for a walk last night since it felt so warm...' The boy suddenly got furious. 'WHAT?! Some skeleton dared took something from my girlfriend?!' The green-haired one then shrieked, pointing at something in the distance, a small skeleton walking out of a shop carrying a bag. 'That's him! That's the freak who stole my drink!'

'Ahh...at last I got something to—huh?'

'Special Wonder Flying Mega Kiiiiiick!' The big-footed boy flew towards the skeleton with his feet in front of him, sending his skull flying off his body, though the boy recoiled and fell on the ground, dizzy. 'Ah! Sukeyapodes, are you alright?' The green-haired girl helped him back up on his feet, though the boy was still mad. 'Grr, I'll teach you to steal somebody's drink, you bonehead!' Minotauros stepped in and lifted him up, trying to calm him down. 'Take it easy, boy.'

'W-What's going on?' The skull of the skeleton said, his body walking over to pick his skull up and place it back on. 'I didn't steal anyone's drink, honestly! I always buy my tea from around these parts of town!' The green-haired girl approached him angrily. 'You lie! You took my soda by force last night!'

'Whoa whoa!' Arle stepped inbetween the two. 'Um...Mr. Skeleton, you said you bought some tea, right?' He nodded. 'Yes, I did. I'm a big fan of every kind of tea in the world.'  
'And you said you bought some soda?' She then turned to the girl. She nodded. The skeleton chuckled in response. 'Ohohoh, I never drink soda, too powerful for my taste.'

'But, this girl clearly told us it was some skeleton that grabbed her soda out of her hands last night near the ruins, and she seemed to recognize you.' Arle inquired.  
'Oh, now I see what's going on. You must have encountered my brother, D!' They were confused by what he said.

'D?' He nodded. 'Yes, I'm Skeleton T, she must have seen my twin brother, Skeleton D! It's a bit of a long stretch to explain, but basically I like tea, whereas he likes all kind of beverages, even alcohol. We live in those ruins, but...since last night, he seemed rather more pushy than usually, and he even went as far as to burn my whole tea collection, forcing me to buy some new ones in the store just now.'

'Hm...Mr. T, did you spot anything weird in the ruins, like some kind of weird purple smoke hanging around?' He thought about it for a bit. 'Well...now that you mention it, yeah I did, earlier this morning. It smelled rather foul, so I went out for some tea leaf collecting and shopping. Why do you ask?'

Arle wasn't surprised to hear that response. 'Mr. T, that smoke is some weird magical stench that badly influences people, to the point where they'll go nuts! Me and my friends dealt with something that caused that smoke in my village, and we're going to do the same to whatever's causing it in those ruins. Could you please be so kind to guide us towards the ruins?'

He was otherwise pretty surprised to what she said. 'It badly influences people?! Well, my brother is always rather pushy, but it's pretty out of the ordinary for him to destroy my lovely collection. Very well, follow me!' The skeleton walked ahead towards the north exit of the town, though Arle turned towards the boy as Minotauros put him down, following Rulue. 'Hey, it was nice of you to stick up for your girlfriend, but please be more thoughtful next time, okay?' He nodded with a sad face, and shouted towards the skeleton: Mr. Skeleton, sorry about that!' He simply smiled towards him. 'Oh, that's alright, no harm done!' Arle smiled as she followed the others out of town towards the ruins.

A good deal of minutes later, they arrived at the massive ruins on the outskirts of the area, close to the ocean. 'Here we are, the Nocturnal Ruins.' Skeleton pointed as they marveled in awe, the ruins having an ominous presence, though Minotauros already pointed out a few clouds of purple smoke hanging around the ruins. 'Ah, it's not looking good around here either. But where should we start looking?' Arle took a good look at the ruins, noticing several entrances into the massive temple, with no idea where to start their search.

'How about we split up?' Rulue proposed, but Minotauros briefly glared at her. 'Mistress, did you forget what happened in the caves? I doubt it would be wise for us to split up.' She was all too aware of that incident still fresh in her mind. 'R-Right, forgive me for even thinking about that. We should just pick a entrance and start looking together. Skeleton T climbed the stairs to an entrance to the left, budging open the door. 'Here, my brother's main living quarters are this way. I have some knowledge of how this area's structured, but my brother might know the area better than I do!'

'Let's just hope he's still by his senses...well, if he has any.' Arle sighed, the group following T through the inner walls of the ruins despite the slight fog covering their sight, a massive coat of grinded stone dust covering the floor, and they noticed old murals on the walls decorating the interior as well. 'Geez, this place could use some dusting...do you always just walk around here like that?' She tapped T's shoulder.

'Well, I asked a fellow roommate of sorts who also lives in here to clean the place today, but she's hasn't shown herself today at all...' Though just as they were discussing it and ventured deeper as the fog got slightly thicker as well, they heard some loud bonking on a old door to the left of a room, and heard some muffled noises coming from it, right before it slammed open, and a mummy emerged, it's eyes glowing a faint red color through it's bandages.

'EEEEK!' Rulue screamed, hiding behind Minotauros, who brandished his axe. 'Don't come closer to Mistress Rulue!' Though Skeleton T was otherwise happy to see the mummy and approached him. 'Ah, there you are, Mummy! Why do you look so agitated? Did you step out of your coffin the wrong way ag—uh!' The mummy slapped it's skull right off it's body, rolling across the ground. 'Not again...' The mummy then focused it's attention to the others, and Arle retorted by flinging a fireball towards it's feet, it noticing it and screaming as it lifted it's feet up, jumping around to put out the fire on it's precious bandages. 'Uwaaaahh!' Minotauros took his chance and picked up the undead, and tossed it back in the room, picking up a large boulder and placing it in front of the door, preventing it from escaping anytime soon. They sighed from relief, until they were alarmed by the loud bonking on the door. 'L-let's move on ahead. The quicker we deal with that smoke, the sooner that creature's back to normal.' Minotauros noted, Rulue picking up T's skull and giving it back to his body's hands, him placing it back on properly. 'Thanks.' They walked further into the ruins, the smoke growing slightly thicker still, and they approached another door to the right this time, with a staircase leading to the rooftops straight ahead. 'Here it is, this is where my brother D lives.' T tried to gently knock on the door. 'Hello? D?' They were greeted by some loud yelling.

'DON'T *BURP*-INTERRUPT ME! I'M GETTING S-SO WASTED HERE!' Arle stepped back a bit. 'Well, I guess he's pretty agitated alright...' Rulue got angry from that comment. 'The...the nerve of that walking bag of bones! Getting drunk at this time of the day!' She turned towards Minotauros. 'Mino, do us a favor and open that boorish idiot's door, please!' He sniffed, and stepped in front of the door. 'Right away, Mistress Rulue! Grooo!' Stomping his foot straight against the door, the door blew through the room and smacked against the wall with a loud thud. 'Done, Mistre—ow!' She smacked him on the head looking annoyed. 'Not like that, you fool!"  
"My apologies...' They entered the room, a skeleton looking identical to T glaring at them with red eyes glowing from it's sockets. 'YOU PIECES OF *BURP*, CAN'T YOU SEE I'M DAMN BUSY IN HERE?!'  
'D, please put that bottle down and calm down...' T approached his brother, only to receive a bottle tossed straight in his left eye socket. 'SHADDUP, YOU TEA-LOVING VIRGIN! I SWEAR, I CAN *BELCH* NEVER GET THE LADIES WITH A WUSS LIKE YOU MESSING EVERYTHING UP!'

Rulue stepped forward, clearly angry at the drunk skeleton, pushing his brother aside. 'THAT'S ENOUGH, PUT DOWN THAT BOTTLE BEFORE I BREAK OFF EVERY BONE OF YOUR BODY!' The skeleton looked pretty naughty at Rulue. 'H-hey now...don't be so upset, babe...how about you come closer so we can get to know each other better?' His question was answered by aN axe flying straight against his skull, it flying against the door, and Minotauros puffed smoke from his nostrils.

'DON'T EVER TALK TO MISTRESS RULUE LIKE THAT, YOU...YOU...MOO!' Rulue ordered him to calm down, while Arle shrugged her head, clearly not enjoying the exchanges between each other.  
T walked over to his D's skull lodging the axe out of it, and placed it back on his body,though it no longer glowed red, and his eyes were rotating around the sockets, as if waking up from a bad hangover.

'Urgh...T, is that you? What's been going on?' He looked annoyed at his brother in return. 'That's what I like to know too! You just burned up my whole tea collection, you fool!' D realized what he was talking about, and he recalled that, bowing down on his knees. 'O-Oh god...*belch* I'm so sorry bro...ever since that eyeball appeared, I just...*bwuoorggh!* They stepped back in utter disgust as D threw up a large amount of beverages on the floor, though Arle was curious what D meant with that.

'A giant eyeball?' D nodded after he got done throwing up, and he pointed towards the exit of his room. 'Yeah...it's at the roof since I saw it a couple of minutes ago...hurp!' 'Arle?!" Rulue noticed her running upwards on the staircase towards the roof, and she was greeted with the sight of a huge eye spewing out smoke around the ruins and stopped when it noticed Arle, descending towards the floor. 'W-What the...' Carbuncle was quivering in fear. 'G-Gu...' Rulue and Minotauros followed suit, also in disbelief of what they saw.

'What in the...this is what's causing that smoke as well?!' Rulue stepped towards the eyeball, cracking her knuckles. 'Well, whatever it is, it's not going to get away unpunished!' The eyeball looked eerily at Rulue, and she was caught off guard by something building up in it's iris.  
'Huh?!' Minotauros knew what it was up to, and ran towards Rulue. 'MISTRESS, GET AWAY!'  
It fired off a purple laser towards Rulue, her eyes widening and trying to jump away, but Minotauros tackled her out of the way and took the hit. 'GRUUOOOOOOOHHH!" He screamed in pain as he was sent flying across the roof, and off the building. 'MINO!' Rulue screamed in agony as her eyes burned, getting up and her body twitching from pure rage.

'Get out of the way!' Arle and Carbuncle looked behind them, as they noticed a familiar white-haired swordsman standing right behind them, holding his sword. 'Schezo?!' She jumped away as he charged towards the eyeball, slashing it vertically across the iris, and it seemed to ooze some purple liquid as it was sliced in half, vaporizing in thin air, and the smoke diminishing as well. 'That was close...' Schezo muttered as he got up, but was caught off guard by Rulue grabbing him by his clothes and looked at him with a glare that sent chills running up his spine, her teeth gritting. 'YOU IDIOT! HOW DARE YOU KILL THAT THING BEFORE I COULD?!' Arle grabbed Rulue's shoulder, and tried to talk sense in her. 'Rulue, please! I don't know what Schezo's doing here, but I think we should first see if Minotauros is still alive!' She ran downstairs, with Rulue rudely putting Schezo down, and followed Arle.

'Whoa...she's scary...'


	6. Chapter 5: Onwards to the lakeside

They rushed downstairs and outside of the ruins, searching where they thought Minotauros fell down on the ground, and Rulue was the first one to spot him due to smoke coming from his body, him barely twitching his body and breathing heavily.  
'Mino!' She tried to help him up, but he grunted in pain. 'GRUOOH!' She stopped, and noticed his right leg was broken. 'D-Damnit!'

Arle rushed over, and tried to comfort him. 'Minotauros, can you breathe well enough?' He nodded, which was a slight relief, though the two tried to lift him up by putting his arms around their shoulders, and Minotauros carefully tried to stand on his left feet, his right feet still in pain. 'Guoo...M-Mistress...glad you're—eeiiugh...'  
'Stop talking you idiot, save your breath!' Rulue ordered him as they carefully carried him back inside.

A while later, Minotauros was lying on a bed inside Mummy's room, and his leg was being mended by Rulue who carefully snapped the leg back in order, and Mummy who now regained it's senses aided as well by wrapping several spare bandages around his strained leg after D temporarily offered his arms around Minotauros' leg to help keep his leg in place. '*burp* You better give me those arms back after you're done, right?' He nodded.

'Right, well, that's that taken care of.' Arle noticed Rulue sighing from relief with Minotauros' health now in moderate state, but she turned her attention to Schezo, who was just hanging to the back, reading through one of the books. 'Hey, Schezo!' He almost made the book drop from being startled, and turned to Arle. 'What the—what is it?'  
'Look, I appreciate it that you rescued me and the others from that...whatever that eyeball thing was, but I'd like to know just how exactly you were aware of this, much more how you came to our aid out of nowhere!' Schezo widened his eyes a bit, knowing that was certainly unlike him to do, but he kept a calm composure.  
'Hmph, well if you're that eager to know...I got ambushed by this weird purple-cloaked woman. She wanted me for something, but I denied, and she apparently knocked me unconscious. Next thing I found when I woke up was that my pet Lynx got missing, and I set out to find her and get him back.'

'A purple-cloaked woman, wanting something from you?' Heh, certainly is a odd twist for someone like you.' She giggled slightly, but Schezo wasn't amused by it. Rulue stepped towards them, listening in on the conversation as well. 'Why did you exactly come to our aid?'  
'I was about to get to that!' He responded slightly annoyed. 'Anyway, so I set out to try and find my pet, but during my travels I came across Waterdew Town, and the villagers were all talking about how some weird purple smoke was coming from the ruins. I thought that since they mentioned it was purple, that sorceress must have been there as she was cloaked in purple too, so I came here as fast as I could and noticed it was pouring from the rooftops. I rushed there, only to find you guys fighting that huge eyeball creature.'

'Hmm, well that sounds believable, but a purple-clad sorceress? First time I ever heard of someone like her.' Rulue was sunk in thought about it.  
'But Rulue, Schezo has a point. That purple-colored sorceress and that purple smoke can't be a coincidence. If anything, she might be directly responsible for all this!'  
'That's a good guess as any Arle, but at least we now also know that there are these strange eye creatures pouring that smoke too besides those eerie plants.'  
Schezo got curious hearing Rulue say something about plants. 'Plants?'  
'Yes, Arle, Minotauros and I took care of some strange plant in the woods close to her hometown that was also causing that smoke.'.

'What the—oh, now I remember, from that forest back when I er, 'confronted' you, Arle?' He looked ashamed to bring that up, but Arle simply briefly glared at him. 'Yes, when you were so pigheaded to me.' Schezo tried moving onward. 'A-anyway, so what you two are saying is that weird plants are causing that smoke?' They nodded. 'I see...well if this might help you two, I heard something from a traveler mentioning that he saw some eerie figures close to the lake that's to the northeast of here...what was it, Liabel Lake?' Rulue corrected him. 'Lilypad Lake, you dunce. It's a natural source of water for my hometown and the neighboring cities to the east.' He nodded. 'Right, maybe that's a good start as any to continue our search.'

Rulue widened her eyes in disbelief at that remark. 'Our search?! Hold up there, Schezo, was it? Look, you might have helped us just there with that eyeball...but I'm not so eager to have someone like you join alongside us on our journey.' He got offended by her statement. 'What?! Why exactly?'  
'Well, for starters, Arle here told me about how you frequently are after her for something...and judging by how you talked to me during that hot summer day, you seem quite the...suspicious guy, shall I say?'

"Er...' He had nothing to come back at her with, but surprisingly, Arle stepped in his defense. 'Hold up Rulue. Schezo usually just wants to prove his might to me, despite how strange he tends to word it, and I honestly doubt he has any real secret motives of his own against me given the situation.' She pointed at Minotauros. 'And besides, Minotauros doesn't look like he's able to go anywhere for the time being.' Rulue turned to him, looking slightly distressed. 'Hmm... you do have a valid argument, Arle.' She walked to Minotauros, being offered a cup of tea by Skeleton T.'

'Mino, I'm sorry, but it looks like you'll have to stay here for a bit, alright?' He objected to that, almost coughing with the tea in his mouth. 'W-What? Mistress Rulue, are you serious?!' She nodded. 'Yes, I am. Look, that eye thing...I dearly appreciate what you did for me, but it did a number on you and your leg. I don't want you to worsen your condition for my sake, got it?'

"M-Mistress...I understand...' He nodded in a humble tone. 'But where are you and miss Arle going to travel then?'  
'We're going to check out Lilypad Lake to the east, and some weirdo is coming along until you've recovered.' He looked at Schezo suspiciously, knowing who she was talking about with 'weirdo'.

'Hmph, very well but please be careful, Mistress Rulue.' Mummy reassured her that Minotauros would be able to recover rapidly. 'Don't worry, he'll be back up in no time, I have some knowledge of mending legs and I was even called the best nurse in my class when I was alive.' Rulue was baffled to realize it was a female being all along. 'O-oh! Right, well please do, um, miss Mummy?'

'I know a few potion mixtures as well from rare herbs, madam.' T added. 'I'll make sure he'll recover quickly too, as payback for your group helping us out with that weird smoke.  
'Right, get back to the mansion when you're able to walk normally again then, Mino.'  
"Understood, Mistress Rulue.' They wandered out of the ruins with Schezo in tow, though Rulue was quick to grab Schezo's shoulder as Arle wandered on ahead, and gave him a suspicious look, whispering to him. 'Arle may trust you, but I have my doubts about you. If you do anything suspicious, I'll kick you out of the team, and I mean that literally!'  
'U-Understood.' Schezo reassured Rulue, who hurried along after hearing that, him shrugging his head.

'Let's get back to town first to see if there's any new information from the villagers before we should head to the lake, you think that's a good idea Rulue?'  
'Sure, it's still afternoon. With some luck we might be able to deal with what's possibly going on at the lake before nightfall.'

Though as they were following the path back to the town, Schezo's eyes winced as he swore he felt a eerie presence watching him, and without warning the others, he ran towards the small forest area to the right of the path. Arle noticed his footsteps however. 'What the-Schezo?! Where are you running off to?!' He ran ahead, cutting a path through the bushes as Rulue and Arle chased him, the bushes falling on the path obstructing them from chasing after him effectively.

'Come back here, you demon! I know you're around!' He shouted before he disappeared in the forest entirely, Arle and Rulue being unable to see him anywhere in the vicinity, and Carbuncle couldn't detect his footsteps either. 'That cad!" Rulue stomped on a branch. 'First wanting to come with us, then he runs off like we hardly even matter!' Arle was frustrated as well, but she kept a cooler head regarding the situation. 'Hmm, I think he's just hasty, maybe he saw that sorceress figure and chased after her blindly.'  
'Well, the least he could do is alert us and catch up to him, didn't he? Urgh...come on, let's get back on track and return to town for now. If Schezo can keep himself out of trouble, he'll most likely get back to checking in Lilypad Lake as we were planning to.' They both hurried back towards the plains to continue their trip to the town to inquire some information or related gossip from the villagers.

'Some eerie figures wandering around Lilypad Lake? Sorry, don't think I did, just made a long stroll past the lakeside, and as far as I could see, I saw nothing really suspicious around the plains or in the lake itself.' A ld man explained to Arle and Rulue as they entered a tavern to eat and drink something. 'And wasn't there any odd purple smoke that you saw alongside the lake either?' Arle questioned further. 'Nope. Sorry, but I got to go, have a nice day further, miss.' He got up and left the tavern.

"Hmm, thanks.' Arle turned her attention to Rulue. 'Nothing either...you think Schezo was just making it up? We asked about 5 different people now who went to the lake, and they haven't seen anything odd.'

'Bah, well glad he's gone then, but I think we should still head for the lake and check it out for ourselves.' Rulue paid for the drinks and food, and the two set out for Lilypad Lake to the northeast of the town. Though around the same time they travelled towards it...

'Hmm...I sense weird familiar energy...' The sorceress mumbled to herself as she was awaiting her next order from her superior, standing not far from a massive tower. Her thinking was cut off as her accomplice appeared, her getting up. 'And?'

'They're going to Lilypad Lake, that's where your allies are at work, right?' He stated, pointing to the south. 'Dang...well at least those two ought to take care of themselves. What did they look like?'

'It were 3 of them. A brown-haired girl dressed in blue and white with some weird rabbit-like yellow creature on her shoulder, a blue-haired older woman in exuberant clothing, and a large muscular ox-like creature with an axe. The axe-wielding one's down, so it's only those 2 so far.'

'Blue-haired woman...ah! That woman that got captured by Crocovile and Phoenix. No doubt those are the ones aware of our plans...do they happen to know about us?'  
'Don't think so. But...what are we going to do from here on out?' The sorceress looked at the ground. 'Well, first off, I think I found ourselves a new ally. It seems you're not the only one emitting chaotic aura.' She raised her hands and made a dark vortex appear from the ground. 'Except...this one was imprisoned!' She used her hands as some telekinetic force, and ripped out a person from the vortex, rolling across the ground until it came to a halt, rubbing it's head. 'Ouch...that was painful. Huh?' Looking around, it noticed that it was no longer surrounded by a desolate void, and stood up. 'How...am I released again?'

'That's right, due to me.' The sorceress addressed the person, and turning around, she could notice it was female as well. The female person smirked in response. 'Heheh...thanks, and I see that you got another one similar to me in your ranks as well.' The male one didn't respond to it.

'That's right, I only request your temporary services to me in return from freeing you from your imprisonment.' She nodded in return. 'Heh, if that's all, consider it a deal!'  
'Good, though, who imprisoned you if I may ask? Someone with devastating powers if he was able to seal you away, I take?' The sorceress asked out of curiosity.

'It's a powerful demon from the underworld. He didn't take kindly to me taking advantage of him, so I got imprisoned in that tormenting dimension as punishment. I'll take care of him later if you would allow it.' The sorceress chuckled in return. 'Oh, a little man problem? No issue, we'll take care of it when the time is ripe for it, but now, I need help with getting fools from this world in a frenzy to allow my Lord entrance in this world, and I was wondering if you know any places where to start.

The female person smiled deviously. 'Hmm, I think I got a good idea of where to start, actually, but it'll require help from you as well.' She pointed to the male person. 'Really? Sure, if it means causing chaos, I'm all up for it.'

'Hmm...so far the lake looks peaceful just like what the townsfolk were saying.' Rulue commented as she and Arle carefully looked around the area noticing a few people walking around and even enjoying the sunny weather, though a small child came running out from within the forest perimeter of the lake towards them. 'R-Run!' He screamed as he got to them. 'Whoa, calm down little boy.' Rulue urged the boy to take a deep breath and explain why he was so worked up.  
'It's really frightening to go in there. I was trying to fish for some food, but then out of nowhere, some weird glimmering creature popped up and was shouting something at me, and I ran a fast as I could! Please, don't go in there!' The boy got in a panic again, and ran off towards the direction of the village.

'Weird glimmering creature...well that sounds something out of the ordinary, let's go and investigate, Arle!' Rulue pulled Arle along, Carbuncle hanging onto Arle's shoulder as well. 'Guu!'

Crocovile jumped out of the water into what seemed to be a submerged cave. 'Hmm...well this looks like the ideal spot for one of those plants.' He thought in himself as he pulled out a seed, and went a bit further to plant it in the dirt amongst the stones. 'Hehehe...the smoke will reach out to the water and make all of the aquatic creatures go mad as well, and they count as life forms as well!' He told himself as he was finished planting it, and a small sprout already emerged from the dirt, and was going to retreat to check up on how Phoenix was doing, but he noticed something sticking out from the water spot he entered the cave from. 'A-Ah!' She dived back in the water, and he slapped himself on the head for not checking his back. 'D-Damn it! I can't let her go and yap to everyone about what she saw there!' He dived in the water, pursuing the female creature.

Rulue and Arle approached the lakeside, with them checking around if there was anything odd around the area like what the boy described, but they didn't see anything odd. 'Hmm...looks fine to me.' 'Guu...' 'Oh, what is it Carby?' Arle looked at him, being pretty thirsty. 'Oh, you'd like some water? Hold on.' She held him in her hands and put him close to the lake, allowing him to drink some.

*splash*

'Whoa! Carby!" Arle screamed as she was scared from something popping out of the water, apparently red-colored that made her fling Carbuncle up in the air from it. 'Oh shit, hold on, miss!' It dived back in the water as Carbuncle fell in the water. 'Nooo! Hang in there, Carby!' Arle shouted, about to dive in herself, but she noticed something emerging from the water below Carbuncle, and carried him on it's back towards the shore again. Arle immediately grabbed him, hugging him tightly.  
'Oh, Carby, I was so scared there...thank heavens you're alright.'

The creature emerged from the water, surprising Arle and Rulue as it stood on manly-looking legs and sported arms too. 'Heh, my apologies for that, missy. I thought it was another kid playing around here and who accidentally got my tail.' He seemed to act nice to them, apologizing for scaring them like that. 'What the...a giant fish with arms and legs?' Rulue widened her eyes in disbelief, though Arle simply chuckled. 'Oh, it's okay, Mr. Suketoudara.'  
'Arle, do you know this weirdo?' Rulue tapped her on the shoulder, whispering in her ear.  
'Oh, don't be so scared Rulue, he's someone I ran into sometimes on my travels, his name's Suketoudara. He's pretty friendly.'

He nodded, though he looked briefly agitated towards Rulue. 'But calling me a weirdo?! Look, I know that my arms and legs look kinda...odd for someone like me, but that's going a tad too far, ain't it?'  
Rulue looked kind of embarrassed, but tried to move on. 'I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions so quickly, Mr. Suck-a-Todda?' 'Suketoudara, missy!' He corrected her.  
'Yeah yeah, but look, we heard from a child that he was scared out of his wits. Was that your fault, by any chance?' He put a finger under his thick lower lip. 'Hmm...oh, yeah, it wasn't intentional though. I was just practicing mah mad dancing skills in the waters around here for a dancing session with my friends, but then a hook got hooked in my fin. Hurted a bit, so I wanted to tell that kid to go fish somewhere else, but I guess me popping out so close to him scared him outta his mind.'

Rulue facepalmed. 'Figured...looks like there wasn't anything threatening going on at all...' Arle interrupted her. 'Hold on, Rulue. Maybe he knows more.' She turned towards Suketoudara again. 'Mr. Suketoudara, do you live around here?' He nodded, looking at the lake. 'Sure do! The water around here's pretty clear and refreshing, perfect for me to swim around in.'  
'Then, would you have happened to see anything strange going on around here, like something not occuring usually?'  
'Sorry, can't say I did.' Suketoudara raised his arms and shaked his head horizontally. 'As far as I've seen today and yesterday, I've been just minding mah own business, and trying to work over the courage to finally ask her out...' He glowed red on his cheeks, but noticed that the human girls were looking at him, and he snapped out of it. 'But, yeah, nothing odd so far. I gotta resume practing my dance for tonight!' He suddenly twirled on the ground and striked an flashy pose. 'FISH!"

'Oh, well...thanks for the help though, Mr. Suketou—huh?' Arle squinted her eyes and put her hand above her eyes, as she noticed something in the distance swimming towards them. 'What's that?'

'M-Miss Seriri?!' Suketoudara shouted, jumping in the water, coming to her aid as she seemed out of her wits at what to do. 'He-help me!' The mermaid approached the shore to where Rulue and Arle where standing, and Suketoudara quickly used his arms to toss her out of the water, landing on Rulue and Arle. 'AAAH!' Suketoudara turned around to see what she was swimming away from, but it sped by him, and jumped out of the water, and licked his teeth, approaching the mermaid.

'Heheh... no more running around, miss. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to shut you up from tal—huh?!' He stepped back as he saw her being pushed off gently by two other girls, recognizing one of them. 'Y-You?! Grr!' Rulue looked at him with a irritated and confused look, though she seemed to recall him from somewhere. 'What the—I swear I saw you before...AH!' Suddenly realizing it, she viciously glared at him. 'You! I'll get back at you for what you did to me in the cave!'

'Uh-oh...' Stepping close to the water, he noticed Suketoudara jumping out close to him, and looked mighty pissed off. 'You threatened miss Seriri?! I'll make you pay for that!' He hissed. 'Bah, three against one's not fair!' He jumped in the water and dashed off, Seriri sighing from relief. 'Tha-thank you so much..oh! Arle!'

With the strange creature gone, Arle turned towards the Mermaid. 'Seriri? It's been awhile. Oh, let me help you get back in the water first. Rulue, could you please grab her, well, tail?' Rulue carefully grabbed it, looking slightly disgusted as it felt slimy, though she was happy Seriri didn't wiggled it around, and the two gently put her back in the water. 'Whoo...' Suketoudara immediately rushed to her. 'Miss Seriri, are you unharmed?! He didn't bite you or anything, right?!' She laughed faintly at his concern. 'I'm fine, Mr. Suketoudara, but that was scary indeed.'  
Suketoudara sighed from relief. 'Good...but why was he chasing you? Did you bump into him or something?'

She started explaining. 'Well, a couple of minutes ago, I was just practicing some singing for the session tonight from the instructions from Miss Harpy, when I noticed that weird crocodile-looking creature checking around and going into a old coral reef cave not far from here, I got curious and followed him, and I saw him planting something in the distance, then he saw me, and I got out of there with him chasing right after me. I...I honestly dreaded to know what would have happened if I didn't run into you people.' She bowed politely. 'Thank you very much for protecting me!'

Arle smiled. 'No problem, Seriri!' Though she felt her shoulder being tapped on by Rulue, who wanted to say something. 'Hold on, Arle, I think I recognized that weird crocodile freak. He was one of those two jerks who grabbed me in the cave and forced me to inhale that smoke, I'm sure of it.'

'Really?!' Arle made a connection with what Seriri and Rulue both said. 'Ah, he must have been planting one of those plants near here!' She ran towards Seriri. 'Seriri, could you please lead us to that cave where you spotted that crocodile guy planting something?'

'Sure, but there's a problem with it. It's a coral reef cave submerged underwater. I doubt you two would be able to swim there by yourself so easily...' Seriri looked rather saddened, but Suketoudara jumped in front of them. 'Not a problem! Just hang on to me, and I'll carry you two there in a flash!'

'What?! I'm not going to ruin my clothes by water!' Rulue snarked towards them, though Arle was willing to sacrifice her dry clothes, and accepted the offer. 'I'll go, Mr. Suketoudara, please carry me and Carby there, if you would be so kind?'

'Sure! Anything for those who helped miss Seriri!' He jumped in the water, with Arle carefully stepping in and allowing herself to be hold gently by the giant fish, with Carbuncle perched on top of his head as they followed Seriri towards the coral cave, Rulue hanging back against a tree. 'Heh, good luck Arle...'

'Here it is, miss Arle, I'd suggest you'd take a deep breath.' Seriri dived underwater as they were a good distance away from the shore, and both Arle and Carbuncle did so, Suketoudara holding onto them tightly as they descended, Arle being fascinated by the sight of the cave from the outside, and within a few seconds, they entered and ascended again, Arle and Carbuncle being relieved that they were easily able to breathe just fine in here.

'Hoo...are you alright, Carby?' 'Guu!' He responded, shaking himself dry, though Arle climbed onto the rocky surface, and walked towards where Seriri was pointing, Suketoudara following them.  
'Whoa, what the heck is that?!' Suketoudara was surprised as he saw a relatively large plant grow in the cave, small bursts of smoke pouring out from it.  
'Don't get too close to it, you'll go insane from that smoke! Leave it to Carby, and stap back!' She nodded to him, and he obliged, firing a laser at the plant, a small explosion occuring as they backed off, nothing remaining of the plant. 'Wow...that buddy of yours sure is lethal!' Suketoudara commented as Arle grabbed him, hugging him for a job well done. 'Yeah, that's my Carby, right?'  
'Guu!' They went back to the water, intending to return back to Rulue immediately. 'But what's the problem with the plant?' Seriri wondered, Arle promising to tell them as soon as they got back to the surface...


	7. Chapter 6: Singing Disturbance

'Skree!' Phoenix checked her surroundings as she flapped above the forest region, noticing a single high cliff about her altitude near the edge of the sea to the west, landing on it and noticing that the only way for a normal human being to get there would be to climb a steep rocky wall upwards. 'Hehe, this seems like the perfect spot for the plant to flourish. It'll be hard for anyone to approach this place from the ground!' Pulling out the seed, she was proceeding to plant it, but she picked up some foul noise to the south of her. 'Harahorohirehareee!'

'Aaaek! My ears...' The high pitch of the singing made her cover her ears, and grunted in pain as the singing came closer to her vicinity, peeking her eyes open to notice something winged with pink hair coming her way. 'Haaraahooroo—'  
'SKREEE!" Phoenix screamed in utter disgust as she planted the seed with immediate haste and flapped her arm-wings upward, approaching the creature, who was entirely absorbed in her own singing with her eyes closed to really notice her. 'Falalile, lalalaaaaaa-mmmph!' She was cut off by Phoenix's feet covering her mouth, and she screamed in disgust: 'STOP TORTURING ME, YOU FOUL DEMON!'

'What? B-but...I'm just practicing my singiiing!' She removed the claw from her mouth, and responded back, still singing slightly even when speaking normally. 'Skree! You call that singing?! It tortures my sensitive ears...' Harpy felt slightly sorry, though she couldn't help but continue to talk in her singing voice slightly. 'I-I'll go awaaay immediatelyyyy...' That broke Phoenix's nerves, and she whipped out a staff, proceeding to summon small bolts of lightning towards the singer, screeching in disgust. 'Skree! No mercy! I'll have you silenced!'  
'Eeeek!' The winged human fled, flapping her wings as quickly as she could, flying lower towards the forest to try and shake her off...

'So...these plants are pouring strange purple smoke that will make people lose their mind?' Seriri reacted slightly shocked as she listened to Arle explain while they returned to shore to meet up with Rulue again. 'Uhuh, and it seems odd eyeball creatures are also causing that smoke. Rulue and I have been traveling around to try and do something about it, but so far we got few leads as to where the perpetrators like that weird crocodile creature would strike.'

'Hmm, sounds mighty serious there, Arle.' Suketoudara commented, as they approached the shore quickly enough, Rulue getting up from taking a brief pause to enjoy the sightseeing, and helped Arle up on the grass, though she looked at her with slight disdain. 'Well, was it worth getting your clothes wet like that?'  
'Yes, it was. It was as we thought, another one of those plants, though this one was still in it's growing state, so we had little issues with that one as Carby took care of it easily.' 'Guu!'  
Rulue patted him on the head. 'Good job, little guy.' Though Rulue could see that the sun was slowly setting beyond the horizon of the woods, the air giving off an orange tint. 'Hmm, it's about 17:46 PM on my watch...Arle, what would you say if we would retreat back to my mansion so I can prepare dinner, and get you some clean clothes so your normal ones can dry off for tomorrow?'

Seriri couldn't help with instinctively squirm at the sound of Rulue mentioning something to eat, and mumbled out: 'P-Please don't get the idea to eat me...' Arle giggled. 'Heehee, don't worry Seriri, we're not mermaid-eaters. Though that proposal does sound nice, Rulue.'  
'Hey, hold up.' Suketoudara shouted with Rulue looking at him. 'Hm? Is there something?'  
'Yeah, if it isn't too much trouble, would—huh?' He heard some faint yelling behind him close to the forest, causing him to turn around. 'You hear that?'

'Hmm...I hear nothing, you sure you aren't just imagining things?' Though Seriri twitched her ear fins as well, reassuring that something was indeed happening not far away from them. 'No, Mr. Suketoudara is right, I hear faint yelling of...Miss Harpy!' She pointed deeper in the forest. 'Miss Harpy's screaming's coming from the east side of the forest!' Arle squinted a bit. 'Um, Seriri, she's always usually screaming when she's sing-'  
'No, it isn't like that, it sounds like she's in danger!' Seriri shouted.  
'What?!' Arle and Rulue hurried towards where Seriri was pointing, though Arle had difficulty keeping up with Rulue because of her wet clothes weighing her down somewhat, and soon noticed the screaming becoming louder as they saw various lightning bolts strike the ground. 'Aiieee!' Harpy flew towards Rulue in a panic. 'H-help meeee!' Rulue noticed another winged creature resembling a bird approach them, casting another lightning bolt close to Rulue's feet, though upon spotting her, she backed off slightly, still in the air. 'Skree! Y-you!'

'What's your beef with this girl?!' Rulue shouted, shaking her fist at the creature, though she shrieked falsely in return. 'Girl?! You mean a foul demon who ruins my ears! If you're bend on protecting her, I'll just have to—SKREE!' Flinching in pain, she felt a rock hit her beak, and Rulue was ready to toss another one. 'That does it!' She pulled out her staff and was preparing to cast a stronger spell, but was intercepted by a bolt of lightning hitting her from another direction, forcing her down on the ground from the shock.

'Grrr...' Slowly getting up, she noticed that the blue-haired woman was aided by another girl with brown hair, though Rulue was looking oddly at her. 'Bah...this doesn't look good. I'll get you for this later, wenches!' She flapped her wings intensively to gain enough speed and hightail it out of there, the others sighing from relief.

'Are you okay, Harpy?' Arle approached the pink-haired girl with concern, though she smiled faintly. 'Yee-ess, thanks to you I'm alriiiight! But how did you know I was here?' The two flinched from hearing her sing slightly in her talking manner, and Arle quickly intervened. 'Ack! Uh, Seriri told us so, we helped her just now. Harpy, you mind telling me and Rulue just why exactly that bird creature was attacking you? And um, would you please try to not sing too much? We have kind of uh...sensitive hearing'

Harpy calmed down now, and started explaining, trying her best to not sing instinctively. 'I was just flying around looking for someplace quiet to practicing my singiiing for tomorrow's concert with the band, but that strange bird creature was doing something near a cliff, and got really annoyed for some reason...' Arle glanced aside. (Not that surprising...) She tought in herself. 'But she got really vicious and started chasing me down.'

'Miss Harpy!' Suketoudara came running towards the group. 'Are you alright?'  
'Mr. Suketoudaraaa! I'm quite fine, thaaaanks.' She singed to Suketoudara, though Rulue tapped Arle on her shoulders. 'Yes?'

'Arle, that weird female bird creature...I'm sure that's the other one who grabbed me back in the caves.' Arle was slightly surprised, but should have expected it by now given their previous run-in with the other creature. 'Really?'  
'Yes, no doubt that they're possibly working together to do something nasty in these woods...hey, maybe that Harpy girl saw that bird plant another one of those plants as well?'

Arle immediately pursued that idea, and interrupted Harpy and Suketoudara's conversation.  
'Um, excuse me. I'd hate to cut in, but I need to ask you something urgent here, Harpy.' Harpy smiled to Arle. 'Sure, Arle!'  
'Well, I was wondering if you saw that weird bird creature do anything...suspiciously at that cliff before she attacked you. If you can recall anything, please do. It's very crucial.' Harpy was thinking deeply. 'Hmm, I do recall her standing on a high cliff near the sea to the east, but I didn't get a good view at what she was doing.' Arle knew enough from what she was describing.  
'A high cliff...would sound like the perfect spot to plant one of those horrible plants!' Harpy was confused. 'Plants? What's so horrible about that?'  
'We don't have much time, but to sum it up, it seems there are weird plants popping up all over the place due to weird evildoers planting them around and causing some smoke to emit from them that makes you go crazy if you inhale too much of it.' Harpy gasped hearing that. 'T-Truly? Then I wish to help you ouuut!'

'Really?! That'd be deeply appreciated!' Arle smiled, though she noticed that it was slowly getting dark. 'Hmm, Harpy, could you please guide us to that cliff where you spotted her?' Though Harpy was kind of worried for Arle's wellbeing.  
'Um, the cliff is rather high, Arle, and I doooon't think I'll be able to carry you with the weight from your soaked clothes like that.' Arle realized she was still pretty wet, and looked rather embarrassed. 'Oh, darn! What else...' Rulue had a idea. 'Arle, how about you borrow Carbuncle to me for a bit?'  
'R-really? But why?' Arle picked him up from her shoulder.

'From what you describe, Carbuncle is the one capable of destroying those plants with ease, and I think Harpy can carry him with his light weight rather easily if the plant's on a high cliff. Don't worry, I'll guard them both for you, so you can just return to the mansion and change clothes before the night cold gets to you.'  
Arle saw good logic in Rulue's suggestion, and handed over Carbuncle to her, him hopping on her shoulder in a instant. 'Guu!'  
'Alright, that seems like a good plan. Carby, you behave yourself around Rulue and Harpy, right?'  
"Guu!' He nodded. With that, Arle journeyed to Rulue's mansion, while Rulue and Carbuncle were being guided by Harpy towards the cliff, with Skuetoudara coming along for extra safekeeping, in case those weird creatures would strike again unexpectedly...

'Here it iiiis.' Harpy pointed towards a large cliff in a small opening at the edge of the forest with a beachside overlooking the area, water rushing against the tides. As it was now getting darker, Rulue and Suketoudara spotted something purple on the top of the cliff. 'Yep, that's pretty much like what Arle was describing. Looks like there's a plant on that cliff there too.'  
Rulue hurried towards the cliff until she reached the steep rocky wall, giving Carbuncle to Harpy. 'Harpy, could you please hold Carbuncle here tight and lift him up to the plant so he can destroy it?'  
She nodded, gently grabbing him between her arms. 'Suuuure, come on, little guy.'  
'Guu!' Braving the slightly stronger gusts of wind, she easily carried him to the cliff, noticing that a small plant was already sprouting from the ground, and began to puff out some smoke. 'Yikes...it does look eerie. Is this distance good enough for you?'

'Guu!' He fired a laser from his head towards the plant, and it glowed red, Harpy immediately descending and returning to the ground as a small explosion occurred from the cliff. 'There you go, safe and soouund.' She put him back on Rulue's shoulder, Suketoudara looking at the cliff. 'Hmm, looks like it's gone, good job there.' Smiling to them both. 'Hehee, thanks!"

Rulue was slightly worried however. 'Hmm, we might have taken care of two of those plants here, but what if those creatures will try and pull something sneaky during nighttime? One of those plants could easily grow out of proportion the next morning!'  
'Good point ya got there, missy...' Suketoudara was trying to come up with a solution, though Harpy had an idea. 'Oh, I know, Mr. Zombie might heeeelp!'  
'Mr. Zombie?' Rulue inquired. 'Yes, he's one of our group's members, he's a undead person, but he's really friendly. He doesn't require sleep, so maybe I can politely ask him to patrol the area at niiight and warn us if something weird happeeens!'

Rulue was starting to get irritated slightly from her singing, but she endured it since Harpy was being friendly and helpful. 'R-right, sounds like a good plan. Suketoudara, you sure you and the others can handle yourself for the evening here? I'll be retreating back to my mansion for the night and return here tomorrow morning to see how you are all doing, that sound good?'

'Fiiish! Sounds good! Meet up at the great big tree not far from the lake, you should be able to easily spot it if you come walking here from the direction of the town to the lake.' She nodded, and departed with Carbuncle, Harpy and Suketoudara heading back in the forest, apparently discussing something amongst themselves.

'Grr...' Crocovile sat on a rock on a river a good distance away from the lake, thinking about what to do, when he heard familiar flapping in the distance, looking up and spotting his companion. 'Hey, Phoenix! Here!' 'Skree!' She descended, flapping her wings at a low altitude. 'How did it go?' She grunted in displeasure. 'I was planting one of those seeds, when a annoying singing wench came by and almost ruined my ears, tried to do something about it, but two girls intervened, so I had to retreat.' Crocovile got up hearing that.

'Hold up...was it that same blue-haired wench from before in the caves and a brown-haired girl with some yellow rabbit thing on her shoulder?' She nodded. 'Skree, they got you as well?'  
'Not exactly, I bailed before they could act as they also backed up some mermaid who saw what I was doing, but this doesn't look good. I think they might have some of those idiots from that area informed on what we might be doing...I guess we should head back to the Mistress first and hear what she has to say on what we should do next.

Phoenix nodded, and grabbed him, flying off in the distance, trying to detect where their superior was hanging out...

'Hmm...this doesn't actually taste quite bad, Arle.' Rulue commented on a stew Arle prepared with some help from Rulue, as they were eating around a small dinner table. 'Thanks, it's a family recipe from my mother that she used to cook for me when I was younger.' 'Heh, I see. You should give me that recipe sometime, should give me something to practice on sometime, especially considering what's happened earlier...' Arle knew what she meant by that. 'That incident with Minotauros?'  
'Uh-huh...look Arle, I'll be honest here with you, but as you most likely witnessed in the kitchen, I'm...not a very skilled cook. I usually depend on Mino to do the chores around the estate while I'm occupied with other stuff, and...I'm starting to think that maybe I've been mistreating him considering his loyal service to me for a long time...

(Wow...maybe Rulue isn't as demeaning as I thought she would often be...) Arle tought to herself, being baffled by this sudden side of Rulue, though she noticed. 'Arle...you look like you want to say something to me?' She gasped and swallowed a bit of her meal. 'Oh, uh, I was only thinking about how lucky Minotauros should be that you're so considerate of him now so suddenly. I think you should actually tell him that when he gets back here.'

She smiled a bit, finishing up her plate. ' You're right, I'll arrange a small vacation for him after this is all done and over with.' Standing up, they both took their dishes to the kitchen and retreated to the upper floors. 'Alright, we'll be heading out for the lake again tomorrow, Arle. Hopefully those oddballs at the area won't run into any trouble during the night.'

'Hmm, I sure do hope so...' Arle commented before retreating in the guest room, trying to get some sleep. 'I do wonder if Schezo's still alright, though, Carby...'  
'Guu...'


	8. Chapter 7: Problems in the north

'Do you sense her yet?' Crocovile commented to Phoenix as the two looked down from the sky, trying to locate their superior. 'Skree...not yet...' She then noticed something purple standing on a mountain, overlooking 2 villages and a large castle in the distance in the night sky.  
'There! There she is!' She descended towards the sorceress, and let go of Crocovile near the the ground.

'Ah, you two come at the right time.' She approached them. 'Mis—huh? We do?' Crocovile looked confused. 'For what?' She pointed towards the villages. 'Our allies are busy with something that ought to help our lord, but it has to be done during this night. I already managed to talk with someone one of them knew who's willing to help us, and I want you two to assist them in the villages over there.' She pointed towards the villages.  
'Got it.' Phoenix agreed to it. 'But...didn't you want to say something, Crocovile?' The sorceress turned to him. He looked embarrassed towards her. 'O-Oh! Yeah, actually I do...we were busy in the lake area, but that woman from earlier today turned up there, and she wasn't alone. She was aided by a brown-haired girl and a few other oddballs who were native to the area, so we figured to better retreat against such odds.'

She gritted slightly in disgust. 'Bah, just like how that girl described how they would appear like. I can already sense that the seeds have been destroyed as well, so they're definitely not having a blind stroke of luck with flushing out the plants you two planted.' Phoenix gasped, and bowed down. 'Skreee! I'm sorry, mistress, we couldn—'  
'Don't worry, I'm not angry at you two. If this plan succeeds, the losses of the plants at the lake will be of little concern. Now go, time is running short!'

'Right!" Crocovile and Phoenix hurried off towards a village on both sides, the sorceress vanishing in a puff of smoke. 'Better make sure we're on the same terms here with our ally...'

'Dang it...' Schezo grumbled as he cut away more bushes in his path, visibly annoyed by having no leads whatsoever despite having passed a few areas. 'This is preposterous!' He started talking loudly to himself as he looked around the wide open grassy plains. 'It can't just be that that sorceress vanished off the Earth like that. She has to be around here somewhere, I just know it...' He started thinking of other possibilities. 'Perhaps she went the other way, towards Arle's hometown...yes, that's it.' He took a turn towards the right, entering a thick forest, though the vast trees were obscuring his view among the darkness of the night even more, but he pressed on. 'This has to be a shortcut...hm?' He noticed a faint light in the distance, and hurried over there, curious what it was, and he was confused when he saw a person walking in front of a whole line of people, yet even more so when he saw the silhouette from the torch she was holding.

'What the—Arle?!'

'Ack! Who is over-' She looked towards where the voice was coming from, and looked suspicious when she saw who the figure coming closer really was. 'Huh?! Done so soon? I underestimated-' Schezo drew his blade in suspiciousness. 'What the hell are you talking about?! And what are you doing here with those people?' He looked at a few people standing behind her, just standing there motionless. She knew enough, and tried putting on an act. 'That's none of your business, but...' She smirked deviously, much to Schezo's surprise, and casted a weird spell towards him. 'Sleep powder!' Various odd spores emerged from her hand, hitting Schezo who tried avoiding it, and he felt his eyelids forcibly closing. 'D-Dang it...Arl...' Falling to the ground, she smirked, calling out for help.

The next morning...

'Ah, that was a good night's rest.' Arle stepped out of her room all dressed up with Carbuncle on her shoulder, seeing Rulue downstairs making sandwiches for the journey ahead. 'Hey Rulue.' She looked behind her, smiling at Arle. 'Oh, hi there. Did you sleep well?' She nodded. 'Mm-hm. Did you?'  
'Well, sort of. ' Arle tilted her head slightly. 'Hm? What do you mean?'  
'I'm too used to waking up in the night hearing Mino yell in his sleep that it has become sort of a habit.'  
'Does he yell in his sleep?' Arle giggled slightly.  
'Yeah, he keeps telling me that he's having some horrible nightmare over and over again, but I'm not sure about that...anyway, you ready to go back to Lilypad Lake again?'

She nodded. 'Yeah. I hope Harpy and the others are alright and that nothing has happened over there.' Packing a few sandwiches in a bag and eating a few on their way to the lake, and to their relief, they didn't notice any purple smoke anywhere near the lake or the forest near it from what they could see. 'Hmm, things look fine here so far. But we need to go to a large tree according to that big walking fish.' Rulue squinted her eyes and noticed a large tree sticking out from the others to the north. 'There.' She pointed towards it, and Arle followed suit, them soon arriving at small clearing in the forest where the giant tree towered, though their ears twitched from hearing familiar singing as well with Harpy standing near the tree.

'Lalalilalooo!" She was singing not too loudly, but quite enough to make Arle and Rulue cover their ears, approaching her. 'Hey! Could you please stop singing?!' Rulue shouted to her, it catching Harpy's attention. 'Oh! Hello blue-haired lady from yesterdaaay!' Rulue got agitated from the further singing, but she took a deep breath, and remained calm. 'It's Rulue, thank you! Could you please stop singing for a while?' Harpy nodded, and obliged since Rulue seemed to ask it politely and she helped her yesterday. 'Alriiight, sorry for irritating you.' She sighed from relief. 'Meh, I just had a poor night's rest, don't worry.' Arle only giggled slightly from this exchange. 'Harpy, did you get any word from Mr. Zombie yet as Rulue told me last night?'

'No, he hasn't come here yet, and Mr. Suketoudaraaaa needed to arrange something in a town to the north of here for our big debut toniiight.' Though Arle was curious about what Harpy meant by that, but before she could, she heard some noises coming close, and the group looked to the south, noticing an orange-colored slimy individual carrying a guitar, and she couldn't help but tap her foot to the rhythm. 'And that's when the stars truuuly shiiine...' The person stopped briefly singing along, noticing Harpy and a few others. 'Ah, theeere you aaare, miss Harpyyy.' He smiled despite his slow speech creeping Rulue out slightly. 'Mr. Zombie, how did it gooo?'

He strummed a guitar string, and smiled. 'Well, I thiiiink I finally naaailed the beat for toniiiight.' Rulue intervened. 'Not that! Mr. Zombie was it? Did you spot any weird activity from some weird creatures—no offense meant, around these area's like planting weird seeds or smelt any strange fog?'

Zombie scratched his cheek trying to recall the past night. 'Ugee...well, I didn't see anything the whole night I was out patrolliiing on request of miss Harpy, and I didn't smeeeell any strange fog...'  
Rulue sighed from relief. 'That means they didn't return. Thanks for the information.'  
Though Arle approached him soon after that. 'Um, Mr. Zombie? I heard Harpy and Suketoudara mention something about a band and planning to play somewhere yesterday, is that right?' They both nodded. 'You're right, miss Aaarle.' Harpy sang a bit excited about it. 'Thing is, we've been trying to organize our own little band and try to make a name for ourselveees!'  
Zombie added in to it. 'And we've settleeeed on playing iiiin Westburrow Village to the noooorth tonight under the name of 'The Seafaring Starscreamers'. Arle giggled slightly at the name. 'D-Don't laaaugh...' Zombie mumbled. 'We're serious abooout this. Harpy and Seririiii are backup singers while Suketoudara dances and I proviiiide the music.' Rulue could already imagine how it would go, much to her dismay.

'Haa...haa...' They heard loud footsteps coming their way, and noticed Suketoudara coming their way. 'Oh, hi there, Mr. Suketoudara!' Arle shouted to him, but his expression was rather serious as he hurried to the group. 'Guys, terrible news!' They approached him, curious to know what he was talking about. 'What is it?'

'Westburrow Village's in trouble! I just visited that place, and all of the men and boys have suddenly vanished from the town, and all of the female inhabitants of the town are desperate, not knowing what to do!' They couldn't believe what they were hearing. 'Are you sure about thaaat?!' Harpy inquired, looking shocked. 'Yeah, and the strange thing is, they all disappeared last night! I'm worried about the villagers, but by the looks of it, our concert tonight won't be happening anytime soon tonight!' They all looked disappointed, but Arle remained confident. 'Suketoudara, this Westburrow Village is to the north, right? Rulue and I will head over there immediately and see if we can aid them somehow.' Suketoudara smiled faintly, but shrugged. 'Look missy, I dunno if you're familiar with the terrain around these parts, but there's a large ocean that seperates this place and Westburrow Village. If you're planning to head over there by foot, the only safe way is to head clockwise around the Nocturnal Ruins area, and from there you have to travel across a mountainous area and cross a bridge, and that will take at least 4 hours, as there's no traffic usually going there.'

Rulue looked determined. 'Bah, we don't care how long it will take us, we'll head over there as soon as we can!" Suketoudara suddenly shouted. 'Hey hey! There's another method to reach Westburrow village far sooner, though.' Arle got curious. 'How, exactly?' He stood proudly, flexing his muscles. 'I can carry ya ladies across the sea to the shore close to the village, that's how I got there earlier, and it's not too much of a hassle for me. It'll take around uh...30 minutes while carrying you two, I'll guarantee it!' Rulue widened her eyes and objected. 'WHAT?! And let my clothes get wet?! No way!'

Arle tried to reason with her. 'Rulue, think of the villagers there, the sooner we can get there, the better.' Harpy and Zombie added something as well. 'Look, if clooothes are an issue, you two can put on light white dresses I have at my house for the trip to get weeet, while I'll carefully carry your clothes across the sea, that a good ideaaa?'  
'Ugeee, my sooon got a large traveling bag as well to put them intooo, don't worry.'

Rulue was less stressed hearing that. 'Hmm, sounds good. Very well, if you would be so kind to show us to your home, Harpy, we'll get changed and prepare for the trip. Though you better hold on to me tight, Suketoudara!' He took a deep breath, getting slightly nervous. 'O-Of course!'

And so after a few minutes, they departed from the beachside with Suketoudara holding both Arle and Rulue in his arms gently as he made his way across the seaside, with Harpy and Seriri following along with the latter holding Carbuncle in her arms, and Zombie and his child waving them goodbye. 'Goood luck!'

About roughly 30 minutes later, they arrived close to the shore of the northern landscape, with a small upwards beach area leading to a forest region in sight, and Suketoudara let go of Arle and Rulue for them to walk on the beach, and Seriri gently put Carbuncle on the beach. Harpy landed with the bag, placing it on the shore. 'Theeeere we aaaare!' She shouted excited, though Suketoudara was gasping for air desperately.' *Wheeze...wheeze* 'Wow...that was tougher than I expected it to be...' Rulue glared at him. 'Are you implying that I'm heavy?!' He glared back in return. 'Hey, that ain't what I'm implying... *wheeze* All I'm saying is that this took a lot outta me...*wheeze* And to think Harpy and me were going to help you out on yer silly quest as well...'

Arle and Rulue were surprised to hear that. 'Are you serious?!' Harpy nodded. 'Mm-hm! You helped us out yesterdaaay, and we discussed thiiiis in the forest last night. And if you're going to help the villagers so we can perform tonight, that solidifies our decisiooon.' Rulue flinched from her singing again. 'A-Alright, you can come along, on one condition!' Harpy came closer. 'Yeees?'  
'That you won't do much singing around us, alright? We're not traveling around for fun, and we don't want to be distracted by your singing!' Harpy looked a bit disappointed. 'Oh, well...got iiit...'Arle tapped Harpy on the shoulder. 'H-hey, we could use some distraction during our travels, you can sing to us with your heart's content!' Trying to cheer her up, which Harpy was all too happy to hear.

'What about you, Suke-huh?' Arle noticed he collapsed, and ran over to him. 'Suketoudara! Is he...' Seriri shrugged her head. 'Of course not. He just fell asleep from this ferrying chore and needs to regain his stamina. I'm sorry, but it won't look like he'll be able to come along with you right now. I'll keep an eye on him and tell where you'll be going so he can catch up with you when he wakes up. That alright with you?' Arle nodded, patting him on his back. 'Tell Suketoudara that we truly appreciated his help.' Seriri nodded.

'Yeah, please tell him that.' Rulue grabbed the bag and pointed to the forest. 'Let's go in the forest and dress ourselves back up, Arle. This dress might feel comfy, but it's getting cold!' Harpy and Arle followed, and Harpy was courteous enough to pack a towel along for them to dry themselves before changing back in their own attire. 'Ah...much more comfortable...'Rulue sighed from relief. 'Hey, I actually liked that dress.' Arle commented, making Harpy blush. 'Heheee, thanks!' They waved Seriri goodbye as they departed leaving the bag with Seriri to carry back to the forest when Suketoudara would wake up.

'Hmm...ah! I can see the village in sight! Arle noticed a group of buildings coming in sight when they travelled through the plains, with Harpy singing to herself, Rulue keeping her fingers in her ears to not get distracted. Reading a sign, Arle was sure of it. 'Yes, this is it. ''Westburrow Village.'' Come on, let's see what the villagers can tell us what's going on...' Though as the group set foot inside the village borders, they noticed that the few villagers walking around and chatting amongst themselves were indeed all female as Suketoudara told them, though they felt uneasy when the villagers kept staring at them, and suddenly one of them shouted: 'It's her! She's that wench that took away all the men!' Her finger clearly pointing at Arle. 'W-What?!' Suddenly the remaining few villagers all came running out of their homes towards the town entrance with vegetabbles ready to toss towards her, and barraged her with it. 'Return the men to us, you foul wench!' Arle and the others didn't know what to make of it, but were too busy trying to avoid their projectiles. 'Ack! H-Harpy! Please sing as loudly as you can!' Rulue shouted to her, getting an idea. 'W-What?! But they are angryyyyy!'

'Just do it!' Harpy took a deep breath, and started singing as loudly as she could. 'HARAHIREHOREEE!'  
'AAAARRGH!' All of the villagers stopped and covered their ears. 'P-PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!'  
'HARAHOROHIREEEE!'  
'ONLY IF YOU'LL PROMISE TO LISTEN TO WHAT I'LL HAVE TO SAY AND STOP ATTACKING US!'  
'LALILALE!'  
'YES! PLEASE! JUST MAKE HER STOP!'  
Rulue shouted loudly in Harpy's ear. 'Alright! Stop! They'll listen!' Harpy stopped singing and rubbed her ear. 'H-hey, no need to shout so loudly...'

Everyone sighed of relief, and Arle approached them. 'Now what is it that you people were saying, that I'm the one responsible for what's going on here?' One of the villagers responded, the rest still looking coldly at her. 'Yes, we are! Last night you appeared in our fair town muttering some strange nonsense, and all of our boyfriends, husbands and sons just straight up walked out of here, and started following you to that tramp's mansion like obedient silent slaves!' Rulue overheard that last part, and shouted to the female villager. 'Tramp's mansion?!' How dare you?!' Another villager intervened. 'Hands off! She wasn't talking about you! We mean the mansion of that wily seducing witch Succubus! I carefully trailed the line and saw it with my own eyes!'

Arle tried to reason with them. 'Look, I understand that this is a horrible situation, but please listen to me. I've never been to this village before in my whole life, and I've just heard about it this morning, and I came here because I heard from a friend of mine what happened here, trying to help you people!' The woman all mumbled amongst themselves, a few approaching her, taking a good look at her. 'Hmm...strange, your eyes do seem...sincere. Very well, we'll believe you, for the time being...'

'Thanks, but...what were you all saying about someone called Succubus?' The villagers looked rather upset. 'She's a wily seducer who lives not far away from our town and frequently attempts to woo traveling men in that large estate of hers...heck she even has the audacity to try that on some of the male inhabitants of this village, including my boyfriend!' Another woman backed her up.  
'Yeah, and when you, or rather someone looking alot like you, appeared and took them away and threatened us, walked towards her mansion with the men in tow, and the gate closed behind them, none of us being able to get inside thanks to some weird barrier that then popped up around the mansion!' Arle heard this was serious, and she asked in which direction the estate was, so she could see for herself.

'Hmph, it's to the north of here, past a thick forest. Look, we just want the other villagers returned safe and sound, and we dread what might happen to them under the hands of that she-devil. If you can somehow remove that barrier and allow us inside or rescue the male villagers, we'll truly believe you have nothing to do with this.'

'Got it. I think we should depart right away, Rulue and Harpy!" They nodded, and left the village with the women still looking mighty suspiciously at them, them sighing from relief when they entered the forest, following the main trail to the north.

'Hey Arle...' Harpy tapped her on the shoulder gently. 'Yes?'  
'You really weren't here previouslyyyy?' Arle denied it. 'Of course I wasn't! I'm completely unfamiliar with this area, but it's odd...someone resembling me...' Harpy thought she saw Arle have some vague idea, but she shrugged it off. 'Let's just see what we can find out—'GRAAAGH!'

The loud yelling catching their attention, they turned towards the direction of where it came from, and saw a snake-like creature slithering across the bushes, trying to evade a large yellow bird trying to grab her. 'Someone help me!' She shouted in desperation. They ran towards them, and Arle summoned a shard of ice towards the bird, it only being distracted and turning it's menacing attention towards them, allowing the snake creature to hide in a hollow tree. 'Skreeee!' It's screech made them cover their ears as it tried reaching it's claws out to them, though Harpy began to sing in retaliation, purposely false and the bird screeched in agony, flapping away towards the far distant mountains as it had enough of it. They were relieved that it retreated, and they approached the hollow tree from where they spotted the snake creature retreating to.

'Um, are you okay? Ah!' Arle was surprised to see that the snake creature was a serpent-like woman with red hair and barely wearing anything to cover up her torso, save for a white bra. 'Ah, yes I am, much appreciated!' Harpy was surprised as well, though she tried to gain some information out of her. 'Just who aaare you?' She waved her hair in the open, and smiled seductively at them. 'My name's Lamia, and I got in a bit of a...nasty predicament thanks to an old friend of mine, whom I intend to get back at.'

'And who's that friend exactly?' Rulue curiously asked. 'Why, it's that snooty Succubusssss.' She hissed, revealing her sharp venom-filled teeth, sending chills up the girls' spines. 'Eek! Well...w-we actually were traveliiing towards that Succubus' estate for our own reasons...could you please assist us if we have the same goal in miiind?' Harpy looked at her kindly, Lamia rubbed her side with the tip of her tail. 'How can I deny the help of such a lovely innocent-looking creature and her colleagues who just saved me? Very well, I'll lead you to where she livesssss.' She slithered through the pathway, the rest just following her, with Harpy trying to shrug off the unpleasantness that this serpent woman emits.

Arriving at her estate, they saw from a distance that the building was indeed protected by a magical barrier, and Rulue put her hand against it, feeling like concrete stone. 'Hmph!' She tried to deliver a hard kick to it, but it didn't budge an inch. 'Dang it!' Lamia inspected it. 'Hmm...odd...she's never been this secretive about her usual antics to me. That sorceresssss must have something to do with it.'

'Sorceress?' Arle came close to Lamia. 'Yes, me and Succubus...well let's just say that we've been long-time friends for a good say, 100 years.' Harpy widened her eyes. '100?!' Lamia hissed slightly at her, to continued her story. 'Anyway, we usually like to prey on some nasty men and have some 'fun' with them, but last night some weird sorceress in a purple cloak appeared in her estate as we were just chatting between ourselves, and all of a sudden after some weird mumbo-jumbo that hag muttered, Succubus suddenly wanted every man from the local village near her all for herself, and she didn't intend to share anything with me, and demanded I leave.' She ten hissed a the building, looking very pissed off. 'That sorceress hag even appeared in front of me earlier this morning and sent that half-wit bird Garuda after me to keep me silent, and I've been running away from it since a few minutes ago...that's when you girls appeared and bailed me out.'

'I see. Rulue, didn't Schezo also mention a purple-cloaked sorceress to us at the Nocturnal Ruins?' Arle questioned Rulue, her nodding, though Lamia was reminded of something when they mentioned that name. 'Hold on...there was something else. Apparently you then came waltzing in her estate with all those lovely-looking men, and prior to me getting kicked out, you told Succubus to take real good care of someone called Schezo...if I recall correctly was a rather handsome-looking young man who I could easily sink my lips into.' She said, licking her teeth with her reptilian tongue.

'S-stop it, please.' Arle said to her, but was alarmed. 'So Schezo's captured in that building, and you say it was me who brought him in?' Lamia nodded, though she slithered close to Arle, and gazed in her eyes, Arle quivering. 'Hmm...but your eyes, they look too innocent and naive as I saw last night. You can't be the same person as that wench I saw briefly last night.' Arle didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or insult, but she took it as the former when she distanced herself from Arle.

'R-Right, looks like it's definitely someone impersonating me, but could be her?' Arle shrugged it off, and paid attention back to Lamia. 'Lamia, do you know of any possible way to get past that barrier and inside that mansion?' She nodded. 'Yes, I do, follow me.' The girls followed Lamia as she slithered to the edge of the forest close to Succubus' mansion and she opened up a tree stump with her tail, revealing a pathway to a underground lair, decorated as a home, and the girls looked around, being surprised how...tidy it looked for a underground lair. 'Here.' She shoved aside a bookcase, and it revealed a passageway for the girls to crawl through. 'This is a personal shortcut I made to her kitchen area in the days when I can't find anything to eat, and I have to eat her attempts at mortal cooking...bah...' They crawled after her through the passageway, Rulue helping Harpy since her wings were having trouble fitting in the passageway. 'Ah! C-Carefuuull...'

They followed her, the passageway now leading upwards, and Lamia opened up a plate from the kitchen floor, shoving it aside and slithered into the large kitchen, helping the girls up on their feet into the building. 'Wow...looks pretty luxurious for a kitchen!' Rulue commented, though she then sniffed something. 'Hmm...hold on...I smell something weird.' Rulue walked to the refrigerator, Arle following her. 'What is it?'  
'I don't know, but it's a strong muff smell that smells like a eggplant...' She opened it up, and both her and a large eggplant with glasses on both shrieked. 'AAAIIEE!' The eggplant jumped out. 'Don't squash me-Nasu!' Rulue took a moment to regain her breath, and they approached him. 'Hey, don't worry, none of us are going to do that, but what are you doing in that refrigerator?' Arle questioned him, him panicking at Lamia's gaze at him. 'D-Don't get any idea's-Nasu!' I'm Nasu Grave, a guy turned into an eggplant by some freak alchemy-accident and I was just peacefully living in that village, until that Succubus captured me and I've been hiding in here, afraid that she'll steal my soul like all the other guys in here!-Nasu!'

'Stealing souls?!' Arle kneeled down to him. 'Are you sure?'  
'Yes-Nasu!' I heard her mumbling about taking out the souls of all the men in here and delivering the hypnotized bodies somewhere else.-Nasu!' He started panicking with sweat emitting from his body. 'Then I saw her doing it with my own eyes to a guy, and I...I...NASU!' Arle put her hand to his mouth, trying to keep him silent. 'Sssh, calm down, we're going to free all the men and do something about her, but we don't need to alarm our presence to her. 'Nasu...' He nodded.

'Riiight, do you know where she iiiis?' Harpy politely asked.  
'She's at her private quarters on the 3rd floor, but be careful! I smelled some weird foul smoke emitting from there before I hided myself in here.-Nasu!'

'Purple smoke, eh?' Rulue and Arle were convinced, and the group walked towards the kitchen door, not knowing what to expect...


	9. Chapter 8: Rescuing the men

'What the-*cough cough*' They saw a thick fog hanging around the whole interior.  
'Blergh, I didn't know that Succy had this kind of horrible taste in perfume. ..*cough* Lamia coughed out, but Arle and Rulue visually cued them to try and not inhale too much of the smoke and keep their hands in front of their mouths and noses.

'So this is that smoooke that makes you go berserk, Rulueee?' Harpy squirmed, but they pressed onwards, climbing the upper staircase to the 2nd floor with them carefully opening the doors to the side in hallway to the next staircase, noticing various male villagers all waiting silently in the rooms, though they were creeped out by how motionless they were, and all having eerie red glowing eyes. 'T-This is creepyyyy...' Harpy tried inspecting them up close, but no reaction from them.

'T-They have their souls sucked out by Succubus!-Nasu!' Nasu Grave commented, quivering in fear. 'This what you were talking about earlier, Nasu?' Arle inquired. 'Y-Yes...once she has you in her grip, she'll suck out the soul and the body remains a emotionless husk.-Nasu!'  
'I can attend to that.' Lamia looked oddly at the bodies just standing there. 'But usually she doesn't devour the souls right away, she usually lets them ripe a bit in bottles for the right moment, and I don't want to sound too morbid, but the bodies don't start to decay until 2 days after their souls are being sucked o—'Stop iiiit!' Harpy's face looked as white as her dress. 'I'm getting really uncomfortaaable here...so what you're trying to say is that there's still hope to save these men?'

'Yes, there is, darling...' Lamia sighed. 'But it's strange, the victims don't ever have red eyes from getting their souls sucked out, usually they look more empty up there.'  
'That's the result of that smoke they must have inhaled too much from!" Rulue informed. 'I guess because of their souls being sucked out, they don't act hostile towards us.'  
'Then we have to find both Succubus and the plant right away, and do something about them before these people are lost!' Arle and Lamia went ahead with the rest following suit.

'Zzz...groo...' Schezo opened up his eyes slowly, and coughed slightly from the thick smoke in the room. 'What the...did someone forget to turn off the stove in—' Trying to get up, he found himself tied to the poles of what seemed to be an extravagant bed, and was in his underwear, and he started panicking. 'What's going on—AH! ' Seeing a whip lash out to the bedsheets dangerously close to him, he quivered as he saw a pair of glowing red eyes emerge from further in the room, and was revealed to be a black-haired sultry-looking woman in a rather suggestive red leather suit and wearing matching tight red boots and long gloves. 'Ah, awake at last? You're a deep sleeper, little man...' She whispered to him, licking her whip. Schezo trembled. 'W-What do you want from me?!' She approached him dangerously close, lying on top of him and trailing a finger across his stomach to his chest.

'To just stay silent and be a good boy while I'll take good care of you, and if you don't resist, I'll make it painless...' Schezo widened his eyes and desperately trying to look somewhere else in panic, he noticed his clothing and his sword lying on the ground, and he nervously tried to bargain with Succubus. 'I...I-want you...' She smirked deviously, holding his cheeks in her palms and moving her face closer to his. 'Oho, aren't we being direct here? Maybe I'll have some fun with you befo-  
'NO! I WANT YOU TO GET OFF ME AND RELEASE ME AT ONCE!' He screamed at her losing his rational thought.

'What was that noise?!' They hurried upstairs from where it came from.

'Ice!" Casting a shard of ice from his fingertips that cut through his ropes, and rolled off the bed as Succubus was about to lash out at him with her whip, grabbing for his sword. 'Come here you brat!'

'What's going on over there?' Rulue shouted as they ran towards the 3rd floor of the mansion, hearing the noises and several thuds getting louder. 'Looks like it's coming from the center door at the end of the hallway!' They rushed towards the door, but they heard some knocking on one of the doors to the right, and were surprised by a knight in yellow armor busting through, his eyes looking bewildered and red. 'Graah, finally free!'

'Ack! Who the—' The knight pointed his sword at the group. 'I didn't free myself just to be captured by you again, demons! I shall smite you and grow stronger! Graa!' Rulue was not in the mood to deal with this idiot's nonsense, and kicked him in the stomach as he charged towards them, him flying against the center door, and got dizzy. 'Hraa...to be knocked out by a wench...humiliating...' He mumbled out before collapsing to the floor, and regressed to the size of a young boy.

'What the—' Succubus was distracted by the loud thud on the locked door, and looked agitated. 'Bah, one of those fools broke free?!' She turned her attention to Schezo who was still quivering and on edge as he held his sword, both having slight bruises on their bodies. 'You're nothing more than a sniveling mortal, brat!' She yelled at him before she pulled a lever on a wall using her whip, causing Schezo to tumble down a hatch that opened up under him. 'YAAaaar...'  
'And take your tacky clothes with you!' She kicked the clothes down the hatch as well, before it closed, and the door behind her slammed open.

'*coughcough* Geez, the smoke's the thickest in here!' Rulue barely squinted her eyes open, noticing the woman in red glaring at them. 'Ack! I think this Succubus' room!' Arle shouted, pointing at the figure.

'Bah! What do you brats want?! I'm not THAT kind of woman, so make like the wind and get out!' She lashed out her whip at the group, gritting her teeth. 'Tough luck, you second-hand tramp! We demand you release all those men that you imprisoned and return their souls to them!" Rulue cracked her knuckles as a warning to the demon, who smiled sadistically. 'Release them?! Oho, aren't we being cheeky! I've got plans of my own with them and their souls, and since I can't let you go around and tell every woman about what I'm doing here, I'll have some fun teaching you all a little lesson...hee!' She made her whip grab Arle's arm and pulled her in close to her, looking menacingly with her red eyes. 'A-Ack!'

'And I'll start with this one—EARGH!' Rulue squarely kicked her into a closet, bursting open and revealing that a massive plant was spewing out smoke in there. 'Ah! Another one of those plaaants!' Harpy screamed as Succubus got up, gritting her teeth. 'Grr, that does it, I'll suck out your souls right now! I don't care if you're girls!' She wrestled with Rulue, who tried keeping her at bay by pushing her away from the closet and onto the bed. 'Q-quickly! Destroy that plant!' She shouted.

'Right! Carby!' Though Arle was stopped by Lamia. 'Hold on there, girl. I don't mean to interrupt you, but I think we should grab those clothes out of that massive closet first. Succubus might be nuts, but she'll lose it if you blow up her favorite stuff as well.' Lamia, Harpy and Nasu quickly grabbed all of the clothing out of the closet, tossing them close to the door's opening, and Arle held out Carbuncle at a safe distance, allowing him to destroy the plant with his gem laser. 'Guuu!' The plant boiling from the gem, it exploded, with Succubus fainting, her succumbing below Rulue. 'What the...'

Lamia slithered over to them. 'I think she'll be fine. Look, she's already opening up her eyes.' Noticing that her eyes were no longer glowing red. 'Urgh...what the—get off me!' She shouted, Rulue immediately doing so, wiping off her own clothes. 'I know that I'm attractive, but not THAT att—'  
'Bah, as if I would ever consider someone like you—' Rulue was about to lash out at Succubus, but Arle and Harpy calmed her down. 'Rulue, take it easy, she just woke up from being hypnotized, I could see that in her eyes before.'  
'Hypnotiiiized?' Succubus scratched her head. 'Hmm...now that you mention it, after that sorceress appeared last night, I haven't been feeling myself at all. Hey, just who exactly are you folks?'

'I asked them for help after you so rudely kicked me out last night.' Lamia slithered towards her old friend, and Succubus looked confused. 'Lamia? Did I truly kick you out? I do remember that that wench muttered something to me, but after that...'

'Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt here...' Arle stepped forward, catching their attention. 'Oh, what do you want, girl?'  
'Look, I know you're just waking up and can barely recall what just happened here, but me and my friends were here for a reason, and I'd like to ask you a few questions.' Arle reasoned with Succubus.  
'Since it seems you helped me out of that weird trance, sure, I got no problem with that.' Succubus complied.  
'For starters, a purple-cloaked sorceress came in here last night from what I heard from your friend Lamia. Do you remember for what reason, or if you know her name?'  
'Let's see...me and Lamia have never seen her before, and she approached us two out of nowhere in my own house, stating her name was Cruelia. She demanded that we two talk in private, and I was foolish enough to comply, and then she put me under some trance. The only things I can remember after that, was that she then put something in my room, and told me that when I'm done sucking out souls, to send the bodies down the hatch for someone else to further take care of.'

'Cruelia?' Arle turned to Rulue and Harpy. 'At least we know her name now.' She turned her attention back to Succubus immediately. 'And for someone else to take care of the bodies once you drop them down a hatch?' She nodded. 'Yeah, think it was...here.' Pressing a lever, a hatch opened up next to the bed. 'Whoa!''

'I don't think it's safe to try finding out where that leads to, that wench didn't disclose that to me, but I'm pretty sure that the few men I managed to send down there are still intact. She told me it would take a while for their plan to be fully completed.'  
'Hmm, right. Oh, what about the men whose souls are sucked up and stored in bottles? We were sent here by the female inhabitants of Westburrow Village to rescue them.' Succubus raised an eyebrow. 'Oh, I guess Lamia here told you about my...methods, shall we say?' She glared briefly to her friend, who just looked slightly embarrassed in return. 'Well, I suppose-huh?' She noticed that some smoke was coming from her closet and she inspected it, panicking. 'Ah! What is this?! Are my clothes all burned up?!' Nasu quivered and stepped forward. 'N-No...your friend asked us to remove your stuff out of the closet before that plant that spewed out that strange smoke got blown up. Your clothes are intact right there.' He pointed towards the clothes near the floor, and felt himself being picked up by Succubus, petting him much to his shock. 'Aw, that's so considerate of you...' Though Arle insisted on requesting something and not getting sidetracked. 'Um, anyway. I was wondering if you'd be so kind enough to restore the souls back to the guys all locked up in the rooms and just let them return to the village?'

Succubus nodded, albeit slightly disappointed. 'Fine...I suppose it's a fair trade in return from getting freed myself by you and your crew, and that my clothes are at least still intact. I'll try to find out where it exactly is I sent the few missing male villagers too, so don't take me for being entirely heartless!'  
'Don't worry, we'll tell the villageeeers that you were also under a spell, so they won't come after yooooou.' Harpy smiled faintly, though Succubus squinted her eyes from her tone. 'Ack! Watch your tone, girl! Although, that would be appreciated. Oh! Actually, I got a request for you as well, little girl.'

'Me?' Arle pointed at herself.  
'Yes, you see, I've got a half-wit brother who lives to the east here, his name's Incubus. Kind of a gullible idiot who frequently attempts to woo women around the neighborhood, especially in Eastcrevice Village, but I'm worried that he might have been put under the same treatment as I have by that wench, and knowing him, he might very well have. Would you mind checking out his mansion for me and punch some sense back into his mind?'

Arle agreed to it slightly reluctantly on her end. 'Fine, we'll do it for your sake and the other girls if that's the case. '  
'You have a brother?!' Lamia approached Succubus, looking jealous. 'I never knew you had one all this time!' Succubus sighed. 'Well, I did so because...let's keep it at the fact he's absolutely terrible at his profession, and I doubt you'd think any better of me if our relation got out.' Lamia instead rubbed her hands, smirking. 'Oooh, I'm very curious to know just what kind of a demon he truly is...'

'Oh hold on. Before we go, one more final question.' Arle inquired.  
'Hmm?'  
'Did you happen to encounter someone who looked almost identical to me who delivered the men your way last night, as well as a young man with white-hair clad in white?'  
Succubus nodded. 'Oddly specific, but, I have, actually. That guy was a real handful when he woke up, and I send him down the hatch with his soul intact after we struggled, that much I remember vividly. And that girl did resemble you strikingly, but, she had a sinister look to her that even I would get goosebumps from.' Arle looked shocked. 'R-Right...well, thanks for answering. We'll take our leave then and leave you to your business.' Lamia followed them. 'Don't worry, Succy, I'll keep an eye on them for you to ensure they'll make it there.'

'Right. As for you...' She looked at Nasu, still slightly quivering and remaining silent the whole time. 'After I get done with that little soul errand, how about we get to know each other better? You feel surprisingly squishy...' She smirked at him, him glowing red and trembling. 'N-Nasu...'

'Urgh...' As they stepped out of the room, they noticed the young boy in golden armor standing up. 'Oh, you. Are you okay now, boy?' Rulue commented. 'Ack! My body! It has shrunk! Undoubtly some vile being did that to me!' Rulue kept silent, thinking the boy didn't remember of anything that happened that just happened. 'That's it! That vile girl who put me under a spell last night must have something to do with it. I haven't seen her clearly, but she must have heard of my deeds and hypnotized me last night just to torture me with that smoke in this torture chamber!' He talked to himself at this point and they kept silent. 'Excuse me, but I must make haste and give chase after this demon and repay her! Lagnus the Brave bids you fair maidens farewell!' He dashed downstairs right away, leaving them baffled.

'That boy's nuts...' Lamia commented as they left the building, the barrier being gone now, and the girls were relieved to breath some fresh air again. 'Right, let's go back to Westburrow Village first and inform the villagers there of what happened here, then see how to reach Eastcrevice Village if it's a neighboring town not far from where they live.' Rulue stated.

'Right...' Arle commented, the two noticing her troubled expression. 'You okaaay, Arle?' She nodded slightly. 'Yeah...it's just, I am worried about Schezo all things considered, but the description of that girl who looks like me, I still can't believe she's back.'

'What girl?' Lamia wondered. 'It's hard to believe, but...I've got an evil clone of mine who originated from a weird mirror during one of my adventures, and she claims to want me gone...I've beaten her before twice, but I can't believe she's back so quickly. Maybe that sorceress Cruelia has something to do with it...' Rulue comforted Arle. 'Hey, we're here to help you, Arle. I'll punch that clone of yours back where it came from if she dares come near you.' Arle giggled, appreciating Rulue's concern. 'I won't ditch you eitheeeer' Harpy cemented her concern for Arle, and she felt more confident now. 'Thanks! Come on, let's go!'

'So, you're saying that that demon was under a spell and she would sent the men back here as soon as possible?' One of the female villagers asked the group as they arrived back in Westburrow village. 'Mm-hm!' She seemed honest about it.' Arle informed, though one villager protested. 'Bah, you can't trust a demon to just—huh?'  
'What is it?' Her friend asked as she put a hand above her head, noticing something coming in the distance. 'It's...it's them!' Out of the nearby forest, a incrediby large group of men came running back to the village, being greeted by their loved ones and family in return.

'Well, looks like we were wrong to both misjudge you and the goodwill of other people, even demons then...' The female villager admitted to Arle.  
'Hee hee, but...a few are still missing, looks like there's something more complicated going on behind all this according to Succubus, but she's left in the dark regarding that matter. She told us to check out Eastcrevice Village to well, the east. Do you know how to quickly reach it? We'll be going over there immediately.'

She pointed to the east to a vague sandy path. 'There, follow that through the woods, and you'll reach it in 20 minutes. A cousin of mine lives there, so I'll hope you'll help them there as well once you reach it. And I hope you'll find the other men back safe and sound too. Here, take this. Call it both an reward and apology for doubting you.' Giving Arle a small bag of money, she accepted it. 'Thanks! We won't disappoint you!' Waving goodbye to the village, they departed immediately, with Lamia slithering behind a tree and joining back up with them once they were out of the village's sight.

'Heheh, look at you there, striking up the money.' She giggled. 'Why didn't you join us over there in the village?' Lamia hissed. 'Fool, I prey on men there occasionally! Well...only the really nasty ones, but I'm sure the inhabitants would rather see me gone than believe me on my word of goodwill there, and if I showed up there, it'd be even less likely for them to be grateful to you, would it?'

'Yeah, I suppose you're right...come on, we need to hurry to that Eastcrevice Village place!' Arle picked up the pace, the rest following her.


	10. Chapter 9: Rescue and imprisonment

'Hey, hold up!' They were surprised by the sudden yelling behind them as they noticed a large fish heading towards them, Lamia looking slightly disgusted. 'Eww, what's that?!'  
Suketoudara panted as he caught up to them. 'Ah, there you girls are!' Arle smiled. 'Oh, there you are Suketoudara! Did you manage to recover from that journey across the seaside?' He smirked. 'Yep, sure did! Seriri told me you were going on towards Westburrow Village, but it seemed things have been resolved there, and someone told me that you were going to the neighbour village. Looks like I got lucky catching up to you so quickly.'

'Right, we're heading there because there's a similar problem going on over in Eastcrevice Village but it hasn't been exactly resolved just yet, glad you could join us!' Lamia interrupted, looking suspicious at the fish person. 'Hey, hold up. You gals know this creep?' He looked agitated at the serpent. 'Hey, watch yer tone, lady. I ain't no creep, I'm Suketoudara! The most stylish dancer of the seas!'

Arle assured her. 'Hey, no need to get all antsy. This is Suketoudara alright. He helped us come to this place, and he wants to help us. And Suketoudara, this is Lamia, an acquaintance of someone who was being used in the scheme of what was going on Westburrow Village, she's friendly, well to us at least. 'Meh, thanks...' She slithered off ahead of the group, with the others following suit.

'I'll tell you what's been going oooon, Mr. Suketoudaraaaa.' Harpy trailed close to him as they followed suit towards Eastcrevice Village, reaching it in a few minutes. As soon as they entered the gates, they saw that the village was indeed in a uproar, and noticed that there wasn't a single woman in sight. 'Travelers!' One of the men from the village ran towards them, looking distressed. 'If you're planning to stay here for the evening, I strongly advise you to go somewhere else. It's not safe here for any woman!' Arle suspected as much, but wanted to learn more.

'Hold up. We're not here to stay for the day, we came here on request from your neighbor village Westburrow to deal with the problem here, as they suffered a similar fate with the men there. Could you tell me who took the women away?'

The man nodded, smiling. 'Oh thank heavens, help arrived. You see, last night there was this weird guy who appeared in our village, and he casted some weird magic, causing all of the women here to follow suit, and we tried to resist against that jerk, but he had backup with 2 monsters threatening us if we did anything suspicious, and we were forced to just sit by and watch them being taken away.'

A elderly man joined in on the conversation. 'Yes, and we think they've been taken to the mansion of that pretentious womanizer Incubus. It's not far to the north here, but we dread to fear what might happen to the girls if we did anything with them at his mercy or those monsters!'

Harpy inquired further. 'Could you pleeaase describe what the perpetrators looked liiike?'  
The younger man obliged. 'Let's see...the man who cast that spell and took the women away didn't look too old, but what I could remember is that he was dressed in white, had matching white hair and wielded a sword. Arle reacted rather shocked to that. 'Schezo?!' The men looked rather awkwardly at her. 'You know that guy?!' She objected. 'Sort of, but we're not exactly friends.' She told them to assure she wasn't conspiring with him, if he had anything to do with it. 'Right... but the other monsters who assisted him looked like a crocodile and some kind of bird.' Rulue knew enough. 'Ah, must be those same creeps we encountered in Lilypad Lake yesterday! So this is what they've been up to last night.' The men pleaded to the group. 'Look, we just want the women back safe and sound, if you think you can help us out, we'd deeply appreciate that.'

'Sure, we'll see how we can do something about it, that dude's mansion was to the north, right?' Suketoudara said, and they nodded. 'Okay, then let's go.'

They left the village in pursuit of Incubus' mansion, though Arle was walking behind them, pondering about something, which Rulue noticed. 'What's wrong Arle?'  
'It's weird regarding Schezo, don't you think? Just a while ago he was apparently being held hostage at Succubus' mansion, and now we find out he has something to do with these disappearances in the villages last night.' Rulue figured Arle had a good point regarding him. 'It did sound like it was him, alright. I can't recall any other white-haired guys in white clothing and a sword in the area that could have done it, but...you also got framed for something you didn't do. Maybe this is just some eerie coincidence?' Arle was still skeptical. 'I don't know...Schezo was suspicious before in the past, so this isn't entirely news to me...'

'Hey, you two! We reached the mansion!' Suketoudara shouted to Rulue and Arle, and they hurried on forwards, noticing a lavish mansion standing out in a field similar to Succubus, though this one oddly didn't have a barrier up. 'Strange...I guess this Incubus person must be pretty confident of himself to not guard his property that tightly.' Rulue commented, and was about to head off towards the mansion, though she was stopped by Harpy. 'Miss Rulueee, please don't be hasty. I think that it wouldn't be wise to just barge in there like thaaaat. Do you remember what the villagers told us?'

Rulue realized what she was talking about. 'Oh, right...then how are we supposed to get in then?' Lamia snapped her fingers. 'I got a idea.' Arle turned to her. 'You do?' The gathered around Lamia to hear her plan.

'Hmhmhm...these flowers are truly delicate...huh?' He heard some faint yelling outside, and peeked his head out of the top window overlooking the gate, and noticed several women lined up on the mansion's gate, with a serpent woman waving to him. 'Hey! Is anyone there?!'

'Stop your incestuous yelling, honey.' He waved to her. 'What's the meaning of this?' She giggled a bit at that remark, but kept her demeanor in check. 'Hey you with the blue hair. I was sent here by your colleague to deliver a few stray women that managed to hide away last night. Can I come in please?' He took a good look at the women who were obediently standing there, and sniffed his rose. 'Ah...my lucky day. Please do come in!' Snapping his fingers, the gates opened, and Lamia proceeded to walk inside with the girls in tow, though once inside, they noticed the mansion was filled with the same purple fog as well. 'Just as I thought, the same thing that happened to Succubus happened to her brother as well. Just look at this fog! *cough*' Arle kept her hand in front of her mouth and Carbuncle's. 'Right, but we can't let our guard down. We got lucky that we were able to fool that guy into letting us in so easily, but we got to find that plant first that's most likely influencing him.'

'Riiiight.' Harpy flew on ahead on the upper floor, noticing the hallway was decorated with various flowers, and the rest followed suit. 'I assuuume that the plant like with Succubus' case must be in the upmost floor of his privare quarteeeeers.'

'Hmm..hm...' He sniffed on more of his roses, starting to talk out loudly to himself. 'This truly is beautiful...all these wonderful girls flocking to my roses...they shall decorate my beauty like the sun shining down on my delicate flowers...*BANG BANG* Stunned, he turned his head to the door, and was caught off guard when Rulue kicked the door open rather forcefully, catching the attention of Incubus, who glared at her with his red eyes. 'You...do you even have the slightest idea how much a door like that costs?! I demand you to pay repairs!' She viciously glared in his direction. 'Can it, you womanizer. How about you release the women or else you'll meet my foot up close to your face!'

He snapped a rose towards his hand with his fingers, and made a pose, sniffing on it. 'Hmm hmm...although smelling your feet might be a arousing proposal, I have to decline it...you see, these honeys...they are mine now. and mine to to subjugate to whatever I desire...maybe you would like to desire it too?' He tossed his rose towards Rulue, who grabbed it, intending to break it out of refusal.

'Rulue! Don't do iiiiiit!" Harpy grabbed the rose out of her hand and tossed it back at Incubus' feet, the rose scattered to reveal a sleeping powder, and he simply snapped another rose in his hands, sniffing it. 'Ah...fair maidens know my tactics. A shame.' Arle wasn't having any of it either, and tossed a fireball in his direction. 'Fire!'

He tossed the rose in her direction, and it blocked the fireball, burning away the rose instead. His eyes glimmering amongst the purple smoke. 'Such impatience, ladies...just be quiet and embrace my loving care...AH!' He was so caught in his own incentive rambling that he didn't notice Lamia sneaking up behind him and wrapped her tail around him, her smirking. 'Hee hee, gotcha, pretty boy...ack!' She felt her body flinching from a rose stalk pinching in her side, and Incubus tried to wrestle free. 'Get your body off me, you repulsive...GRAAH!' The two wrestling, Arle. Rulue and Harpy took the chance to inspect his rather lavish and large personal quarters which seemed like a private garden moreso than a sleeping room, And they noticed that a plant was hidden behind a big bush of roses, spouting out the smoke, much to Incubus' horror, who became more aggressive. 'N-no! Not my prized posession! If you hags decide to...GRAAAGH!'

'Q-Quick, destroy that plan—argh, stop scratching my tail, you demon!'

Arle wasted no time and had Carbuncle fire a laser at the plant, it blowing up the plant and eradicating the smoke in the room.  
'NOOO—urgh...' Incubus fainted, with Lamia still clinging on to him. 'Whew...that's that taken care of.' Arle nodded to Carbuncle, who smiled. 'Oh deeeaaar!" Harpy noticed a privare closet behind some other plants that were full of bottles with souls in them. 'So that's the souls of all the women this fool's been sucking out? Quickly, before he wakes up—'

'Urgh...' He woke up, Lamia loosening her grip on him, allowing him to recover. 'Hey, you okay there, handsome?'  
'Oooh...my head, it hurts like a rose stung in my brain...' He got to his senses, and noticed the women standing around him, him quickly smiling faintly and attempted to appear rather collected and suave. 'Oooh, do my eyes deceive me? Truly the heavens must bless me with the appearances of these wonderful angels to come to the aid of such a delicate piece of beauty such as myself...'  
Rulue sighed to herself. 'He hardly seems any different than when he was possessed...'  
Harpy nodded in agreement. 'I think he always thinks rather hiiiiighly of himself.'  
Arle just wanted to interrogate him given the opportunity. 'Um, excuse me, Mr. Incubus was—whoa!' He got up rather close to her, kneeling in front of her and offering her a rose. 'Yeeesss, my dear? Please say you like to um...how do you say it...spent time quality alone with moi?' Carbuncle stepped in and ate the rose out of hunger, Arle getting back on-topic. 'Sheesh, just stop! All I want to ask you if you had any visit from a man with white hair and equally white clothing last night who delivered these women to you?'

Incubus wiped the tears from his face, and complied. 'Ah...that's oddly specific, but yes, I did have such a man come to my mansion with these ladies in tow. He said 'Don't do anything too rashly with them, we want a good deal of them delivered down to us. 30% you can do with as you please.'

'As you please?' Arle wondered. 'You mean you were to drop them down a hatch as well to somewhere unknown?' Incubus showed a lever hidden behind some plants on a wall, and he nodded. 'Odd, you seem to know about everything that happened to me prior to those brutes brainwashing me with that...foul plant to keep me in check. How do you know all this?' 

'Let's just say that something similar happened to your sister.' Incubus sighed, looking rather annoyed, but also somewhat grateful. 'Ah, that Succubus...always the all-knowing older sibling...still, if you did the same to her, I feel I must reward you fair maidens for that!'

Harpy stepped forward. 'Good! Then pleaaase restore the souls of the women back in their bodies, and release them to go back to their home village, alriiiight?' Incubus widened his eyes. 'W-What?! But...all these honeys...at my—''

They all glared at him, him sighing with his arms put up in a saddened manner. 'Ah...alas, a deal's a deal. I can't refuse a fair maiden's request at these conditions...ack!' Lamia wrapped her tail around him, trailing her finger under his cheek. 'Hm hm, don't look so disappointed, dear man, I'm still eager to get to know you more...intimate after you're finished with your little promise...' She licked her lips in a seducing manner, him squirming. 'Ah, but...don't you think you—ah, please don't squeeze me too tightly, my ass-sets hurts...'

'Ew...huh? Your butt hurts?' Rulue raised a eyebrow.  
'Y-Yes...there were two women who resisted heavily when I...invited them over here in my horrible state earlier this morning. They managed to injure me somewhere rather...sensitive and I send them down the hatch as punishment...but I have no idea where that leads to.'

'Bah, so no leads here either.' Arle looked disappointed, but she walked towards the door. 'Right, we'll better go and tell the people in Eastcrevice town that the women will be returning soon.'

'You go on ahead, girls. I'll stay here to make sure this...delicate person keeps his promise...' She cuddled up close to him, much to his nervousness, and Rulue squinted in slight disgust. 'Fine, but thanks for aiding us, though. Come on Harpy.' 'Following riiight alooong...'

They exited the mansion, intending to rendezvous with Suketoudara who would remain hidden at a spot in the woods close to the mansion to not let their infiltration plan fall through and then go towards the village, but much to their confusion, he was nowhere in sight. 'Huh...where has he gotten to? We clearly agreed to meet up down he—Ack!'

Out of nowhere from the bushes and the trees, they were ambushed and surrounded by 3 figures, two of them looking rather familiar. 'Skree! Just as that fish guy told us!'

'Whaaaaat?! What did you—eeek!' Harpy shrieked as she saw Suketoudara's unconscious body being lifted on the back of the crocodile-like creature, who smirked to them. 'Heheh, he resisted heavily, but he was no match for the three of us!'

'Right...' The third person stepped forward to the trio of girls, and smirked, his sharp horn shining rather menacingly as he showed his vampire teeth. 'You girls have been meddling yourself in the affairs of my master, and hence I'll take the responsibility upon myself to make sure you won't be doing so any further! Haaaaa!'

'Master?! Wait you don't mean—AH!' Rulue was cut off as they felt themselves being enveloped by a gray fog, their minds feeling rather unwell, and they soon fainted, dropping to the ground, and were picked up by the trio. 'Skree, what do you want us to do with them?'

'Uuurgh...' Arle slowly opened up her eyes, and panicked, finding herself locked up in a square cell. 'What the—Carby?!' She felt her shoulder, her clothing still intact on her, but Carbuncle was nowhere to be seen in the dark cell, it being lighted by a single torch. 'Carbuncle?! Where are you?! Harpy?! Rulue?! Suketoudara?!'

She heard banging on the cell, a troll-like midget peeping through the bars. 'Hey, shaddup in there, will ya?!' She approached the bars. 'Where is this?!' He chuckled. 'Heh, this is a underground prison, missy! The boss ordered me to keep ya in here until he knows what to do with you.'  
She banged on the cell. 'Where are my friends?' He banged his club against the bars as a warning. ''Ey, that's none of yer business. Now keep quiet, or do I have to get in here?!'

She backed off, him walking off in response, and she crawled against a corner, worried for the safety of the others. Though she suddenly got an idea, being reminded of a similar situation in the past...

The troll was counting his salary in his hand, until he heard Arle's shouting. 'Hey, could someone please help me?! I'm having trouble undressing myself!' The troll opened up the bars with a lever and rushed inside. 'Hold on there, I don't wanna miss this—huh?'

'Lightning!' She fired a bolt of lightning at the troll from the corner of the cell where he couldn't see her before entering, and he shrieked, dropping the club before she whacked him unconscious on the head with the torch on the head, and walked outside with the torch in her hand, lowering the lever to keep him imprisoned, and noticed two hallways both dimly lit with various lights, choosing to go left first, proceeding cautious. 'I wonder what happened to the others...'


	11. Chapter 10: Castle Chaos

Arle continued to travel down the main hallway of the underground dungeon, noticing that there was a lot of prison cells, all labeled with digits and with none imprisoned in any she ran into as she checked left and right, but she was having a hard time deciding where to go at a junction, going either left or right, and nothing exceptional was in her sight on both ends. 'Where to go...I'll choose left.' She proceeded cautiously as to not run into any guards. Though her attention was caught by something in the far distance of the hallway. 'That noise...could it be?'

'Hey, what are you doing here?' One of the guards asked his colleague as he returned to his station on the opposite cell, making a few prisoners walk back in their cells who were obeying without any struggle. 'Bah, the boss doesn't have any use for the bodies so far. Claims he's more occupied with one of the new prisoners that just came in.' The other guard shrugged. 'Meh, wish I could get up here and see what the ruckus is all about, would be more endurable than what I'm stuck with.'

'What is?' The guard approached his colleague's cell, noticing a pink-haired girl with wings shivering in a corner of the cell. 'That girl?'  
'Yeah, she just whimpers out some noises to herself, it's getting on my nerves.' The other guard smirked. 'Hey, let's make her entertain us with a song if she intends to make noise.' The banging on the cell caught her attention. 'Hey! You wanna sing something for us, lady?' He asked with a sarcastic tone, Harpy not taking it too kindly, and denied. 'Hey, we aren't making any jokes here, wench. If you don't want us to get...impatient, you better open up that mouth and sing us a little tune!'

'...HARAHIRE!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, intentionally false, making the guards immediately regret their decision and rolled on the floor in pain, covering their ears desperately. 'AARRGH! MY EARDRUMS!"

'Icestorm!' Out of nowhere, the guards were both struck by an ice spell, freezing them both in place as they were caught off guard, and Harpy stopped singing upon seeing the guards being struck like that, and flied to the bars, peeking her head out cautiously. 'Harpy?' Arle rushed to the cell, much to Harpy's delight. 'Arle! Did you manage to break freeeee?' She nodded. 'Yeah, I heard some noise coming over here, and I got lucky with guessing it was you, Harpy.' She pulled the lever and let Harpy out. 'Do you know where the others possibly are?' She shrugged. 'Nooo, I just woke up in this cell and these two nasty guards have been taunting me. I have no clue where Mr. Suketoudara and Rulue aaaaare.'

'I have no idea where Carby is either, but if we stick together it's a better chance to find them and get out of this dungeon.' Harpy nodded, and followed Arle along further down the hallway, coming to a split once more but with straight ahead or going right. 'I think we should go right here, Harpy.' She nodded, and turned around the corner, though they were caught off guard and unexpectedly bumped into something as they turned the corner. 'Agh!' Arle rubbed her forehead as she fell on her butt, Harpy helping her up immediately, though upon closer inspection, she gasped as she couldn't believe her eyes. 'T-Two Arle's?!'

There were indeed two Arle's facing each other, both looking shocked, with the other one having Suketoudara on her side. 'What the heck's going on here?!' The Arle on Suketoudara's side pointed at the other one and shouted. 'Y-You! You must be her! There can be no other possibility!' The other Arle on Harpy's side pointed at her as well, intending to prove her innocence as well. 'You liar! You're Doppelganger Arle! I don't know what you're intending to do with Suketoudara over there but I'm going to put a end to your plans right here and now!' She launched a fireball towards Arle, who dodged it, and retaliated with a thunder spell, the other one also evading it. 'Wh-who should I back up?!' Harpy squeaked, though Suketoudara rushed over to her side, watching the two Arle's duke it out. 'Harpy, I've got no blasted idea either which one's the real deal.' Both of them dashed towards both Arle's, grabbing them and pulling them away from each other, with Suketoudara issuing a ultimatum. 'Alright, how can we be sure which one of you is being truthful here...which one just rescued me?'

The one held by him lifted up her arm. 'I did. I saw you yelling for help and I lured away the guard before smacking him on the head and releasing you, Suketoudara.'

'Sounds fair...Harpy, did that other one also save you?' She nodded. '

'Yes, she struck the two guards near mine with her spells while I was distracting theeeeem. Then she let me out and we just ran into you two.'  
'Aha! That's it!' The Arle at Suketoudara's side pointed to the other one. 'Harpy, get away. I wouldn't take advantage of something like that so quickly against two guards.'

'Harpy, don't listen to her, she's obviously trying to trick you into something!' The other Arle tried to persuade her. 'Ooooh, what to—ah!' She realized what she needed to do, and started to sing at the top of her lungs. 'HARAHIREHARE!' Suketoudara and the two Arle's both cringed, but Harpy persisted to sing as loudly as she could, and within a mere few seconds, the Arle at her side suddenly snapped, and launched a fireball towards Harpy, her shrieking as she barely avoided it, dropping her act and smirking. 'So you decided to trust on your own instincts than on words? Clever.' Her clothing turning to a reddish tint and her eyes turning red as well. 'So you're involved in this as well now, Doppel?' Arle viciously glared to her, ready to strike, and Doppel smirked. 'Of course. That sorceress freed me, and I intend to repay her. Figured I'd try and lure that naive winged girl to her, but your timing was unfortunate.'  
'Fire!' Arle hurled a fireball towards her, which Doppel avoided. 'Bah, I don't intend to fight you right here. She got other plans in case this one might likely fail at this point, but rest assured, you haven't seen the last of me.' She vanished in a puff of dark smoke, Suketoudara and Harpy baffled by what just happened. 'So, that's yer clone, Arle?'

She turned to them. 'Yeah, or rather more like my evil side. She manifested from a mirror back when I was young and undertaking a graduating exam, but...I thought she was dealt with long ago.'

'Long ago? How so?' Arle was about to explain, but they were cut off by 2 figures dashing towards them from the distant hallway, and they prepared themselves. 'Bah, looks like they managed to escape.' The horned one they encountered before commented, and a blonde long-haired vampire joined in, transforming from a big bat form into a more human-like one. 'Then we'll just have to beat them and take extra precautions next time, don't we? Harpy, Arle and Suketoudara charged, with Suketoudara attempting to wrestle with the horned one for a submissive grab, while Arle and Harpy focussed their attention on the vampire one, with the latter transforming into his bat form and trying to home in on Harpy for a bite, but she shrieked, causing him to flinch with his sensitive bat hearing and Arle capitalized on that to launch a fireball towards him in bat form, causing him to get set on fire, him yelling in pain as he transformed back into his human-like form, his blonde hair catching on fire, and the yelling distracted his horned accomplice, who looked in his direction, allowing Suketoudara to tackle him and pin him against the bars. Arle rushed over to the lever that controlled the cell's bars, and opened it up. Harpy flapped her wings as strongly as she could, making the vampire creature lose his momentum due to the wind gust and fly against his cohort as Suketoudara let go, the fire being doused from the wind and both being knocked into the cell with the vampire falling unconscious from the pain he suffered, and the horned one barely able to stand on his legs, Suketoudara grabbing him by his clothing, and looked at him rather upset and intimidating. 'Now tell us, what is this place and how do we get out of this dungeon?!'

'Grr...as if I would just tell—argh!' He flinched in pain as Suketoudara grabbed his horn firmly in his hand, and tried bending it, causing great pain to him, and he cried out: 'S-STOP! I'll tell you!' Loosening his grip but still holding him, Suketoudara allowed him to speak. 'Be quick about it, before I change my mind.'  
"This is the dungeon of Count Regalor, which is stationed under his very castle. To get out of here, just go left 3 times and right once from where you're standing right now!' Suketoudara grinned. 'Good, and what of the women and men imprisoned in here?' He nervously tried denying it. 'W-What women and men? I—ARGH!' Suketoudara started to bend the horn forcefully, almost making it break since it was hard as rock and attached to his forehead. 'Last chance, pretty boy.' Arle shouted: 'Where are Rulue and Carbuncle imprisoned?'

'It's Demon Servant—uck! T-The count's working with some sorceress to obtain easy servants from the bodies of these humans to serve him, the souls are kept in his private quarters, along with that blue-haired woman and that weird creature. Please, just stop, I told you everything I know!'

'Fine...' Suketoudara let go of him, though he was quick to slap his face pretty hard with a jumping spin using his tail, knocking Demon Servant against Vampire, and also losing consciousness, Suketoudara exiting the cell and Arle locking it down. 'That was kind of harsh, Suketoudara.' Arle whispered to him, him shrugging. 'Bah, those guys were scum, and that horned guy deserved that for ganging up on me with those creeps from earlier outside the mansion.

'Now which way do we need to go, Mr. Suketoudaraaaa?' Harpy tried to sing out softly, Suketoudara himself leading the way forward, carefully evading any guards patrolling around the different hallways.

'AAAAHAAHA! HOOOIEHAYA!' She screamed in laughing anguish as she was tickled at her feet and under her armpits by various goons of one individiual standing menacingly on the other end of the room, inspecting the sleepy yellow creature he put in a cage. 'So it truly is him...vhat a vonderful day it is!' The man got up, and approached Rulue, raising his hands to signal the goons to stop tickling her, and put his hand under her chin, raising it to make eye contact with her, wiping off a tear from her eye. 'So, have you changed your mind vet, dear Rulue? If you accept my provosal now, things vill be made easier for you.' She retorted with a spit in his eye, him stepping back. 'In your dreams, pompous jerk! Just you wait until I get out here, the—mmph!' She was cut off with a bandage on her lips. 'Fine, if you von't be my fiancé willingly, then I'll have to resort to other methods. You three, continue the 'torture', I got other things to settle...' He stepped towards the staircase to his laboratory, where there was a large dose of purple smoke coming from...

'There, I see some form of daylight over at the top of the stairs!' Arle ran towards the top of the staircase with the others, and opened up a large hatch stepping out into another rather vast and luxurious-looking castle, various portraits of a rather conceited-looking blonde man hanging all over the walls. 'Whoa, whoever owns this castle must be incredibly wealthy.' Though they quickly noticed that there was some faint purple smoke hanging around the area as well.  
'Oh no, that smoke, it's emanating in this place too. ' Arle looked at the staircase at the end of a large hallway. 'I assume that Count person must be at the top floor of the building along with Rulue and Carbuncle if what that lackey of his said was right. Come on, we don't have much time to waste!'

Meanwhile, in the dungeons itself...

'Urgh...my head...' Getting up, Schezo noticed he was still only wearing his underwear, though thankfully his clothing was lying there next to him, but on the other hand, he saw that he was imprisoned in what seemed to be a square cell, with his sword nowhere in sight. 'D-Damn it!' Putting his clothes back on before he caught a cold, he then approached the cell's bars, trying to examine the area, until he heard some faint noises, and tried to keep quiet, though he recognized both those voices.

'So...they caught on who you truly are, is that it?

'Yes, but they haven't found their way out of this dungeon yet. What should we do in the meantime?'

'Hmm, you'll...' The voices then faded away as they walked further on ahead, though Schezo was baffled. 'Arle? And that sorceress?!' He inspected the bars. 'Hmm...they don't look too sturdy. Must be not maintained in quite some time. Fire!' He set the bars on fire, intending to overheat them that they'd eventually break from the temperature pressure. 'First I got to escape from here and find my sword...'

'Gahaha...' The Count laughed to himself as he approached the sleeping Carbuncle, grabbing a syringe on a workbench near him, and injected it in Carbuncle's cheek, draining out a small sample of blood from him, and drank it, feeling stronger. 'Haaa...yes...so much from this little source already...'

Arle and the others proceeded to the big door leading to Count's personal quarters, and bashed open the door with the help of Suketoudara, and were surprised to find Rulue on a large wooden workbench being tied up and tickled by 3 odd individuals, who all turned their attention to Arle.

'Rulue!' Arle could spot her, and tried to rush to her aid. 'Hang in th—AH!' She was blocked by the trio who stopped their tickling torment of Rulue and pushed back Arle by force, her being caught by Suketoudara and Harpy. 'Hey, what's the big deal around here?!'Suketoudara exclaimed at them.

'Ohohohoho!' One of them responded, pulling out a fan and wavering it. 'We were just doing our jobs as instructed by Lord Count...and here you fools come along to interrupt it!'  
'Y-You?!' Arle recognized the figure as she came closer, though they were all surprised by the door opening behind the trio of goons, and Count stepping forward, his muscles starting to rip through his fancy clothing, before jumping towards Rulue who was tied up, and unlocked the chains, grabbing her easily due to how fatigued she was, and pointed to the trio. ''You three! Stop these intruders at all costs, while I'll ''convince'' this tramp!' He jumped back to the door, slamming it shut and the trio prepared to assault them. 'Ohoho! Be glad you fools have the honor of being humiliated by Beautiful Behemoth!' She grinded her hooves at the ground in anticipation, a blue-haired woman with draconic features jumping to the left of her. 'Hee hee, we'll make sure you'll bow before her!"  
'U-uh, I'll confuse you before I'll run you through!' A ninja-like midget with a rather cowardly attitude jumped to the right of Behemoth. All 3 of them glared with their red eyes to Arle, Suketoudara and Harpy, before they attacked, them splitting into 3 across the room.

'Hoo hoo! A fish?! Surely you should just hop back in the water and play with the other fishes, before I'll stomp you into sushi!" Suketoudara clenched his fist in anger at that remark. 'Whaddya saying?! I'll remove those hooves of your and ram 'em right through your—whoa!" She performed a small dance, catching Suketoudara off-guard prior to storming forward and using her legs to send him flying against the wall. 'Urgh!'  
'Haha! Stick to the pond, fishie!' Her laughing irritating him, he got up, and got a idea. 'Fight fire with fire, huh?' He just suddenly started to dance as well, which caught her off-guard on her turn, noticing how gracefully he was dancing, until he somersaulted forward and smacked her with his tail, following up by grabbing her horns and tossing her into the wall. 'Gaah—urk!' My horns! Stuck in the wall...WAIT UNTIL I GET OUTTA HERE, FISH FREAK!'

'C-Can't we settle this peacefullyyyy?' Harpy squaked, as the ninja stood ready, moving his hands around in a quick motion, preparing some kind of attack.  
'Sorry, b-but I can't disappoint the boss. Now's my big chance, my chance to show my worth as a member of the Behemoth Bandits! I, H-Hanzo the Buff will defeat you swiftly in 1 hit!' He stood on one leg as he stood in a kung-fu pose, Harpy shivering as he then proceeded to fly towards her, screaming at the top of his lungs. 'Kung-Pow Kick! YAAAA!' She attempted to retaliate by whacking him with her left wing, it surprisingly having great effect on him as he was sent flying from the knockback. 'AAIIEEEEEE!'  
Harpy widened her eyes in surprise. 'More like Haaaaanzo the Bluff, I take?'

'Hee hee, you think your magic tricks are superior to mine? I'd like to see you try!' Mizuchi Woman taunted Arle, before pumping out a barrier of water in front of her. 'Icestorm!' Arle summoned shards of ice towards Mizuchi, but she absorbed the shards and made them vaporize in the barrier, making it thicker. 'Haha!' Sending a stream of water towards Arle, she barely dodged it, until she got a idea. 'Lightning!' She charged a lightning bolt into the barrier, shocking Mizuchi as her hair got blown in sparks all around her head, getting vicious. 'My hair! You brat! Graaah!' Sending another fireball her way, Mizuchi didn't anticipate that due to her anger, and got blown against Behemoth, who lost her footing and got knocked out by Hanzo who ultimately would end up flying against Behemoth as well, knocking them all out simultaneously.

'Whew...what a handfuuuull.' Harpy sighed of relief, though Arle dashed to the door, worried for Rulue and Carbuncle. 'Grr...it's shut tight!' Suketoudara!'  
'Right away! FIIIISH! ' Kicking in the door with his strong leg, the door slammed open, as Count proceeded to charge at Rulue, who was becoming more fatigued as they fought on, while Count was barely breaking a sweat, though both were distracted by Arle and co. interrupting them.

'Bah, pathetic fools! I knew I shouldn't have hypnotized vem to clean up my dirty vork!'  
He grunted as he boosted up his physical mass, his muscles now bursting through his clothing, only his pants still intact as his eyes glowed a fierce red color, and his voice deepened. 'Hahaha, I'll take care of all of you vere, with the strength I obtained from Satan's pet, and zat only being a small vose so far!'

'Carby?!' Arle noticed amongst the thick smoke that Carbuncle was still asleep in a cage, but they didn't have time to think much about it, as Count stomped towards them, trying to punch Suketoudara with Harpy barely pushing him out of the way. 'Whoa!'

'Haha, I'll stomp your legs off, vish man!' Suketoudara responded with a running kick to his chest, but Count simply brushed it off. 'Haha, zat is futile! Urgh!' Suddenly being interrupted by Harpy tossing a big book towards the back of his head, he rubbed the back of his head, glaring at the pink-haired girl menacingly. 'Eeek!'

While Count was being distracted by Harpy and Suketoudara trying to stall for time, Rulue shouted to Arle. 'A-Arle! That brute...*haaa* is using a sample of Carbuncle's blood he took from him with a syringe...grab one of those syringes and drain it away from him!'

Arle hurried to the back of the place, barely able to see much with the thick smoke, and saw one of the syringes hanging from the wall, grabbing it as she hurried back to where the fighting was, with Rulue now joining in to distract Count, though he displayed surprisingly witty cunning and evading their attacks, he grabbed Rulue by the throat. 'Eh? Not so tough now?' His grip tightening on her. 'You had your chance, my vear...now I'll just make you my undead bride by fo—ARGH!'Feeling a jolt of pain rush through his neck as Arle glomped onto his neck and jammed the syringe in his neck, him bashing Arle off him in response, and turned his attention to her while trying to pull out the syringe. 'That stung...you vitch! I'll—urgh!' Harpy took her turn to jam the syringe in deeper, seeing a bit of blood get injected into the syringe, and Count was screaming in pain as she jolted it out, him kneeling.

'Noo! I need help! Come to my aid!'  
'Huh?' They were surprised as a eye warped in the room, it looking very familiar to Arle and Rulue. 'Ack! That's that eyeball we saw at the ruins, Rulue!' She cracked her knuckles. 'Good, then it saved us the trouble of searching for the cause of that smoke!' The eyeball monster didn't takw it easy on them, and launched a laser at Arle, who got hit by it, her shrieking in pain. 'Uaargh!"  
'Arleee!" Harpy shrieked, the sight of her friend in danger making her furious and she slammed the eyeball with her wings, making it descend to the ground, with Suketoudara punching it in the iris, purple liquid gushing out from it as it made a strange shrieking noise. 'Ack! What the heck is that stuff?!'

As it was confused, Rulue took the chance to toss a sharp blade from the workshop straight into the eye, the gap now widening and the eyeball shrieking as it started to melt into a liquid substance, before vaporizing immediately, the smoke vanishing along with it.

'No...' Count tried to get on his feet as he reverted back to his normal form. 'My power...my aid...HURCK!' He was pushed to the ground by Rulue's feet, it pinning on his stomach pretty deeply. 'Not so fast! Tell us where you're keeping the bottles!'  
'B-Bottles? I—argh!' Feeling her feet pressing on his stomach, he squirmed. 'I-It's in ze closet vehind the vorkshop! P-please stop crushing my stomach-haa...' She let go for a bit, but wasn't done. 'And who's behind all this? Who are you helping?!'  
'Haa...as if I would ever tell you zat...no amount of pain will convince me, you vi—IAAAARGH!' A loud scream was heard through the room as Rulue delivered a kick straight in the sensitive parts. 'Then we've heard enough.' She got up as Count fainted from the pain, her walking to the back to inspect the workshop, while Arle noticed a key falling out from his pocket. 'Huh? I wonder if this is the key to free Carby...' She rushed to his side and as she thought, the key worked, Carbuncle convienently waking up and jumping in her arms. 'Guu!'

'Carby...I'm so glad you're alive and well!' She smiled to him, though their celebration was cut short by the Vampire and Demon Servant figures appearing in the room. 'Grr...no mercy thi—huh?' They rushed over to Count's unconscious body, both inspecting him. 'T-The master! They've beaten him! W-We gotta retreat, we're no match for them! I'll alert the others!' Demon Servant shrieked as he warped away, though Vampire transformed into his bat form, and picked up Count, him glaring at the others. 'You haven't seen the last of us!'

Flying through the window as they abandoned the castle, Arle and the others saw that the bottles were indeed stored in a secret closet, and as Harpy, Rulue and Suketoudara opened them all up, Arle was distracted by some noises in the torture chamber behind them.

'Urgh...my head...Hanzo, Mizuchi! You two alright?' The others got up as well. 'I t-think so...'  
'Aside from my hair being a mess, I'm fine, boss!'  
'Good, then let's get out of—huh?!' They noticed the girl standing behind them, just awkwardly listening in on them. 'Hey, you guys alrig—'  
'Ack! It's that brat from long ago!' Behemoth squinted her eyes. 'D-Don't tell us you got rid of the Count and that smoke for us, did you?!' Arle just nodded. 'Um, yeah I did, though—'  
'Bah! Inconceivable. To be saved by that girl who kicked our as-ur, our behinds long ago as a toddler...well, I suppose a thank-you is in order...but don't think we'll forget what you did to us long ago!' She turned around to Hanzo and Mizuchi. 'You two! Grab any valuables you can find in this place and get out of here! This is the last time we'll ever try and bargain with other rich pricks!'

Behemoth ran off towards the staircase, with Mizuchi Woman running right behind her, though Hanzo hesitated briefly. 'U-Uh...'

'Yeah, what is it?'  
He pulled out a old rusty key from one of his pockets. 'H-here...as thanks for freeing us. I remember we were ordered by that Count to lock up two women in the dungeon with special chains because they were making such a ruckus, I believe it was cell 8-E. This is the key needed to break those chains.. T-Thanks!'

Rushing off after handing Arle the key, she was dumbfounded by what she just witnessed. 'Wow...talk about gratitude, right Carby?' 'Guu...'

Returning back to the others, they were just done releasing all of the souls who vanished off to their rightful bodies, and Arle catched their attention. 'Arle, where were you?'

'I think we need to head back in the dungeon one more time, apparently there are 2 others who are still imprisoned somewhere.' Arle showed her the key. 'One of the goons we just fought handed this to me and told me the location, I think he sounded sincere about it.'

Rulue was a bit skeptical, but she agreed to come along. 'Right, I'll trust you on this. Besides, those troops apparently all vanished after we stomped that idiot's lights out anyway, ho ho!'

'You two go on aheaaad!' Harpy smiled. 'Are you sure?'  
'Yeah, we'll just inspect this castle to see where the remaining villagers are and assure them everything's fine.' Suketoudara added.

'Alright, come on Arle!' Rulue hurried ahead, with Arle and Carbuncle following suit. 'W-Wait up! What's the deal with you and that Count weirdo anyway?!'

'Grr...ah!' Finally managing to break the bars, Schezo kicked it open, cautiously looking around if nobody was in the vicinity who could have heard that, and proceeded through the dungeon, wandering around until he saw a larger chamber than those of the other cells, and entered it, seeing a few items being stored there, amongst them his sword, eagerly grabbing it. 'Ah, finally!' Though he was reminded of something else when he put his sword away. 'Be safe wherever you are, Lynx...' He continued his search for a way out of this place...

'8-A...8-B...Ah, over there on the left, that must be cell 8-E, what that Hanzo figure said.' Arle read the labels of the cell to the side of each individual cell, it all looking empty, except for the one labelled 8-E, hearing faint sounds coming from there, but oddly, there wasn't any light in there.  
'Huh...looks empty.' Rulue opened the cell with the lever, and stepped inside, suddenly being greeted by a burst of fire being spewed her way. 'Ah!' Dodging it, Arle shined light in there with a torch she grabbed from another cell, and both were surprised to see two familiar figures in there, both panicking.

'Don't you dare touch us! We—huh? Arle?!' A green-haired woman with horns, wings and a tail dressed in red shouted to her. 'D-Don't tell me you're working with that creep as well?!' Another blond-haired girl dressed in blue to the left shouted in fear.

'Draco?! Witch?!' Arle came closer to them. 'How did you two end up here? And don't worry, we were trapped in here as well.' Rulue approached them, also curious about it. 'Ah, you in here as well?' Draco commented to Rulue. 'Ah, it's you!'  
'Hmph...well, if you must know, Witch and I encountered each other in the inn over at Eastcrevice Village last night when we were staying there for our own seperate reasons, when suddenly during the night, there was something weird going on.'

Witch continued it. 'Yeah, some weird bird-freak and this crocodile-creep were rounding up all the girls in the village, and it's not like we tried to resist, but they'd threaten to harm the villagers if we continued to struggle, so we obediently joined along, and we were put under a strange trance of sorts by that...that pervert!' Her face glowed with anger.

'You mean Schezo?' Arle questioned. Witch nodded. 'Yes! I saw it with my own eyes that it was him. Then next thing I remembered, me and Draco were in this tacky-looking mansion surrounded by girls who all looked rather eerie, and then this Incubus pervert tried to toy with the both of us!'

Draco interrupted her. 'Anyway, as we were kicking his ass, he suddenly got the drop on us with some sleeping powder from a rose, and then we just found ourselves in this cell since a few hours ago, with some guards telling us that something horrible will await us!'

Arle tried to calm them down. 'You don't need to worry about that. Rulue, me and two other friends have resolved the situation and made the owner of this mansion and this dungeon underneath it retreat along with all the guards.' She pulled out the rusty key from her pocket. 'And I managed to get this key, which apparently is needed to break the chains on your feet.' She looked at the legs of both Draco and Witch as their left legs were indeed chained to the floor, seeing a small keyhole to insert the key in.

"That's great news!' Witch smiled. 'Now please, release us so I can find my broom and get to that contest!' Arle and Rulue got curious. 'A contest? And you lost your broom?' Arle noticed she wasn't holding it as usual. 'Did you lose it in the area around here?' She responded angrily. 'No you idiot! They confiscated it from me when they imprisoned me! Now please just release us already! I need a contest to attend to!'

'Right!' Arle kneeled down, but she hesitated when she noticed the state of the key, and go back up. 'Um, I don't think it will be that easy...'  
'Why not?' Draco inquired. Arle showed them the key. 'This key looks rather rusted and in poor state. If I use it, I have a feeling it might break apart rendering it unusable.'  
Both Draco and Witch turned white hearing that. 'What?! So only one of us can be released from these chains?!' Draco shouted.  
'AAGH! I don't want to be trapped in here for eternity! I'm too young to rot away in a place like this...' Witch almost started to cry. Though Rulue tried to think this through rationally.

"Hold up, why can't you just break these chains with your strength, Draco? Don't tell me you didnt consider doing that before?'  
'Bah, of course I tried doing that! But these chains are stronger than they appear! I can't break them by brute force!" Rulue tried kicking it through, but she injured her foot in the process. 'Ouch! I can see that now...'

Witch added to it that magic didn't work either. 'Don't waste your spells, Arle. I tried casting some basic magic, but it didn't affect anything...'

'Darn...then it looks like a harsh choice...'  
'Hold up! There might be a way around this!" Draco suddenly shouted.  
"Ack, don't be so loud! What is it?''  
'I was planning to enter a beauty contest in a rather busy town to the northwest of Westburrow village, called Magiflog. From what I read in the ad I received in the mail yesterday, one of the prizes in the contest was a magic elixir that can renew anything it's poured on, it be hair, dry skin or even items. Oh! I forgot to ask, how late is it right now?'

Rulue checked her watch. 'It's 13:30 PM right now, why?'  
Draco smiled. 'Good! There's still time! The contest is going to be held at 14:00 PM, and if you'll release me, I'll try to sign you up for the contest as well so we'll win that elixir and free Witch afterwards!'

''Alright, but you better keep your promise, Draco.' Rulue commented. Though Witch interrupted them. 'H-Hold on! I got a contest to attend to as well, remember?!' Arle got curious.  
'Oh, what kind of contest?'  
'It's a sorcery contest that's being held in a place to the far southeast of Eastcrevice village called Magician's Village, and it'll be held around 16:00 PM. I'm sure there's some magic rewards that'll be able to break these chains as well.'

'Hmm...looks like the choice is clear to me.' Arle said. 'I'm sorry Witch, but we'll try to come back for you as quickly as possible.' She widened her eyes in disbelief. 'What?! Why?!'  
Arle tried to calm her down. 'Please don't take it the wrong way, but Draco's contest is way sooner, and you still need to find your broomstick, right?' Witch reluctantly nodded. 'A-Alright...but you better come back for me as soon as you win that contest, got it?!' Arle assured her. 'Of course, of course! Just trust us! I'll ask some others to look for your broom in the meantime and keep a eye on you.'

She kneeled down and used the key to free Draco from her chains, the key breaking in half once she turned it around, Draco being relieved to be free. 'Ha! At last! Now, you two lead the way out of here, so I can get to Magiflog on the double!' She turned to Witch. 'Look, we'll return as soon as possible, don't worry.' Witch nodded, still kind of doubtful deep inside, but she had no other choice now, as Arle and Rulue led the way outside from where they came...


	12. Chapter 11: The Beauty Contest

'So that's your plan of action for now?' Suketoudara questioned the girls as they set foot out of the castle, seeing some fresh air since a long time.  
'Yes, we're heading towards Magiflog on the double with Draco to try and win that beauty contest and hopefully get Witch out of those chains as soon as possible. I don't want to be a burden on you two, but could you come back to this place after you brought the villagers back to their homes and keep an eye out for Witch in the dungeons?' They nodded. 'Sure thing!'  
'Good luck, hope you two wiiiin!' Harpy commented as they both returned in the castle.

'Ouch that girl's voice is shrill.' Draco checked her ears. 'Eh, you'll get used to it after awhile...' Rulue sighed. Though Draco flapped her wings towards the sky. 'Right, I'll head to Magiflog immediately to reserve a spot for us in the contest before it's too late. Remember, it's to the northwest of Westburrow Village!' She took off in the sky at a fast pace.  
'Well, better get a move on then, Rulue.' Arle hurried in the direction of the only grassy path on the plains, spotting a sign that gave directions to Westburrow Village to the east of where they currently were, and hurried up towards a forest area, where unbeknownst to them, they were being watched...

Arle practically trampled the tree branches on the ground flat as they hurried, but Rulue lowered her pace, suspicious of something. 'Rulue? What's wrong?' She then shouted to Arle as she saw something flash amongst the trees. 'Arle! Jump to the right!'  
"Ack!" Barely evading what seemed to be a lightning bolt, Arle picked up Carbuncle who fell off her shoulder from the dodge, and they noticed two familiar figures appearing from their hiding spots.  
'Skree! Good dode on that one.' The bird woman brandished her staff.  
'But this time, you're not going to get off the hook that easily!" The crocodile man brandished his axe, swinging it around menacingly.

"You two again?!' Rulue glared viciously at them. 'Good, time for payback for what you two have been pulling on me and the others!' She cracked her knuckles, with the crocodile man flinching slightly. 'Bah, that hit in the caves was lucky. You've been a pain in our necks for far too long!" He slashed at Rulue, who ducked and retaliated with a square kick in his stomach, him flying against a tree, grunting as he tried to recover, but Rulue was ready for more, and jumped towards him, intending to knock him out cold, but was suddenly grabbed by her shoulders and lifted up, her resisting heavily. 'Ah! Let me go, you feathered freak!'  
'Skree! I don't think so...' She flew towards Crocovile, him smirking, but she was interrupted as Arle swinged a bolt of lightning towards the bolt, shocking her and Rulue slightly. 'EAAARGH!" She let Rulue drop to the ground, Arle rushing over to help her get up. 'What were you thinking hitting me as well?!'  
'Rulue, I did what I could to save you from worse!" They noticed the two monsters approaching them, nodding to each other. 'That blue-haired wench is stunned, come on, Phoenix, let's finish them off while one of them is—AH!' They backed off as they noticed an axe plunging close to their feet in the dirt, Crocovile looking at his own axe to not get confused about possibly having dropped his own, and Phoenix then shrieked as she was suddenly grabbed by the neck from behind, and was being strangled by one hand while the other arm was restraining her. 'SKRR—Harck! C-Crocovile...' She gurgled out her staff dropping on the ground, and Crocovile was at a tough disadvantage. 'Wh-who are you?! Let her go!'

'Moo! Only if you two leave my mistress alone! Promise and run off before I'll make her see blue!' Minotauros demanded, much to Crocovile's annoyance, and he begrudgingly nodded. 'Fine! Just let her go!" He let go, tossing her and the staff towards Crocovile, who grabbed both after sheating his own axe, and carried off with Phoenix on his back, who was trying to regain her breath desperately. 'Haa...haa...you haven't...urgh...seen the last of—Mino tossed his axe towards them, landing against a tree, making Crocovile run off even faster.

'Mino!' Rulue dashed towards him. 'I'm so glad you're okay. But...what are you doing here?'  
He smiled, his ears twitching from the nice greeting for once, and he explained. 'Mistress Rulue, I recovered fully earlier this morning thanks to Skeleton T and Mummy's care, my leg was mended and I set out for the mansion as you ordered, but I grew concerned about your well-being, so I locked the mansion and set out Lilypad Lake where I met this strange Zombie fellow who told me you were travelling to Westburrow Village by sea, so I took the long detour to the west across the mountains and just got here, and not too late either apparently.'

Rulue's eyes widened. 'You...seriously took the long way around?! I'm impressed by your devotion to my safety, Mino. But in either case, we're glad to have you back with us.'  
Arle smiled, but she snapped back to reality. 'Ah! We need to hurry! If we stand around any longer, we'll miss the contest for sure!' She dashed towards the northeast, with Rulue and Mino chasing after her. 'Wait, what contest?'  
'I'll explain on the way there. Now hurry along, you oaf!' Rulue shouted.

After a period of running along, they finally noticed a large town coming into view, it quite bursting with visitors from various regions who all strolled in, and they noticed a large banner on the entrance of the town. 'Grand Beauty Contest of Magiflog! Witness the test of beauty, brains and brawn!' 'Hmm, so this is that contest Draco was talking about...Rulue, how late is it?' She looked at the watch. 'It's 13:55, just in time, but we got to find Draco first!'  
They entered the town, trying to find out where exactly the contest was going to be held. 'Excuse me, where exactly is this contest going to be held?' Arle asked a elderly woman wandering about. 'It's to the far north of the town. You can't miss it with all the banners hanging around a large stage.'  
'Thanks!' They navigated the large crowd towards a clearing in the far north of town, a central plain being reserved for the contest as a sign indicated, and they scanned the area for any signs of Draco, noticing her green hair and red wings sticking out as she waved to them. 'Hey, over here!' Arle, Rulue and Mino immediately rushed to her, and she looked slightly upset. 'What took you so long? I was starting to think you'd chicken out!"

'Hey, we don't have wings like you have, remember?! And besides, we got attacked on our way here by some creeps.' Rulue snarked back to Draco.  
'Attacked?! Well that does seem like a legitimate excuse, but anyway, glad you two could come! Now follow me!' She hurried inside a building to the left side of the podium, and addressed one of the registrates. 'Here, I found two other girls who want to team up with me.' The registration member inspected the girls standing behind Draco as she leaned over the counter. 'Hold on, team up with you?!' Rulue pulled Draco's shoulder. 'Yes, I just got informed of that when I came here. It's a teamwork-based edition of this beauty contest, and you need 3 people on a team to even enter.' Rulue sighed. 'Meh, it is that I'm doing this for Witch's sake, Draco. Let's make the best of it.'

'Hmm...seems alright to me. But there's still the matter of the age limitation that I need to cover. You, the woman with blue hair, what's your name and age?'  
'Rulue Silvania.' She admitted, not used to having to use her last name often. 'My age's 21, I'm entering in alongside Draco here.' The registrant noted it down. '21...got it. And you, the brown-haired girl with the ponytail?' Arle stepped forward. 'Um, Arle Nadja, I'm 16 years old.' She noted it down. 'Lucky girl, 16's the minimum age limit. Alright, that's 3 people registrated for the Magiflog contest.' They heard noises outside, and the woman pointed. 'You better hurry on stage, it's going to begin.' They did so, and noticed an man in a tuxedo announcing the contest to a large crowd in on the center stage, holding a microphone. 'Ladies and gentlemen! It's an honor to be present here today for the 34th annual beauty contest that the Magic Administration Corporation is holding, selected here in Magiflog.' He turned to the contestants all ordered on stage. 'It looks like we've got quite the selection of ladies all willing to participate and prove which one of them is determined to work together and win this contest, for the graaaand prize of 1000 gold pieces, and some other trinkets, amongst them a brand new watch, a fancy diamond ring, and even a magical elixir that can repair any kind of substance it's poured on!' The last one caught Arle's attention. 'That's what we need.' She thought to herself, looking kind of nervous to be standing here, though Rulue and Draco were pretty confident.

'Ja-ja-jaaan!' One of the contestants shouted to the announcer. 'Jan likes to know how this contest works!' He smiled faintly. 'Good question, my dear. Unlike previous contests, this one isn't just based around good looks and votes, oh no...' He pointed with a stick to a large map that appeared behind them, catching their attention. 'There's a reason you all need to work together. There are the remains of an ancient castle to the west of here, called Gratebridge Keep. The organizers have put several tests for the contestants to solve, and ratings will be based on how many tasks you can manage to complete in the keep in about 1 hour!' He gave a select few of cards to the groups with the group's name on the top of the card. 'Once you complete a task, you'll be awarded with a stamp as proof, and the winners might be able to discover the secret item and bring it back here for the grand prize!'  
Behemoth laughed as she waved her fan. 'Ho-ho-ho! I'll win this easily and take home that grand prize money!'  
'Don't count on it so quickly!' Draco shouted to her, the two practically glaring at each other, with the announcer applauding. 'Alright, that's the fierce competitive spirit that we want to see from the ladies!' He pulled out a firing signal pistol, and aimed it to the sky. 'Now remember, it's to the west of town, and it's 14:05 right now. Return here before 15:05 with all 3 members of your team or else you'll be disqualified!' He fired the signal, and a colorful fireworks display set off the contest, all of the girls running out of town as the road was cleared with arrows pointing to where they needed to go to in order to exit the town. 'Come on, we can't lag behind!' Draco ordered as she ran ahead, intending to not ditch her teammates and Minotauros shouted to them: 'Good luck Mistress Rulue!'

A few minutes later, they reached the front of a old abandoned keep, and noticed some girls running in, Arle seeing a sign that caught her attention. 'Gratebridge Keep, reserved in order for the competitors of Magiflog's beauty Contest.'' Arle looked at the drawbridge's entrance. 'Looks like this is it.' They entered through the front gate, though amongst the old interior and decoration, they noticed that some vague weird smoke was hanging around the castle, and Arle and Rulue were immediately alarmed. 'That smoke...Draco, be careful, don't inhale it too much!" She was confused. 'Huh? What's wrong with this weird fog then?'  
'It's a sunstance that'll make you go nuts if you inhale too much of it. I experienced it firsthand.'  
Draco was unpleasantly surprised, but she remained confident. 'Got it. But...we got to press on. Witch is counting on us to free her.' They decided to travel down the east wing first after a small agreement, though Arle and Rulue were cautious. 'Could they have schemed this in accordance with the contest?'  
'Could very well be, it would be a easy way to get people under their control. We got to find the source of it quickly.'

Travelling up a staircase towards a door, they noticed a room with a large amounts of mirrors, all arranged wildly in the room. 'Whoa!' Draco read the sign to the left of them. 'Test of Intelligence. Find your way through the perplexing mirror maze. Patience and co-ordination will be put to the test.'

'These mirrors all look the same...Rulue approached one of them, carefully touching it, it feeling cold as ice to them. 'Brr! I can clearly see why this would be tough, aside from getting possibly lost.'  
They ventured forth, though Draco bumped her head into a fake mirror, the sight of them starting to affect her vision. 'Ouch! Stupid mirrors!' Arle tried to calm her down. 'Draco, this is exactly what the test meant. We've got to take it easy and not let our anger get the best of us.'  
'' Right...thanks Arle.' Draco smiled faintly, though they noticed the athway amongst the mirrors split in 3. 'How convienent that there's 3 pathways. I suggest us to travel one pathway for 20 seconds. If you don't find anything, head back here, and we'll decide where to travel to based on judgment. ' Rulue suggested, Arle and Draco nodding. Though they went their own directions, Arle could hear the faint sound of something rubbing against the mirrors in the distance. 'Hmm? Walking further, she then turned a corner, and saw a blonde-haired maid cleaning all the mirrors rather rapidly, mumbling to herself: 'So dirty...need to polish all these mirrors!' Arle approached her, her footsteps alarming th maid, and she glared with red eyes towards her. 'A filth-maker?! I'll teach you some manners!" Kikimora attempted to swipe her mop at Arle, her screaming for help. 'Draco! Rulue! Come this way!' They faintly heard her screaming, and rushed back to the meeting point, going in the direction Arle went.

'You must pay for trespassing up here!' Kikimora swiped her mop once again towards Arle, but it was swiped out of her hands by Draco spewing fire at her, and Kikimora nearly attempted to toss a bucket full of water towards them, it being wrestled out of her hands by Rulue and Draco distracting her, and then splashing some of the water her face, her red eyes diminishing after feeling the cold water hit her face. 'Ack! That's cold! Huh?' She shaked her head, looking confused. 'Where am I?'

'So, you're back to your senses now?' Rulue questioned her, Kikimora nodding. 'Mm-hm. I don't know what came over me...I came to this place along with my teammates for the contest, but when we reached this room, they got too scared, and backed off. I was foolish to try and do this on my own, and then I got so irritated because of this smoke...I don't even know how I got this mop and bucket in the first place!' She dropped it, sighing. 'It's because of that smoke, it'll put everyone who inhales too much of it in a weird berserked state. Look, I'm not trying to be discourage you, but it's too dangerous to wander around here on your own.' Arle explained to Kikimora. 'I guess I'm disqualified from this contest either way, but I'm going to get out of here before I get all screwy in the head again because of this smoke. Um...do you happen to know the way out of this room?'  
'Sure. When you arrive at a choice of a pathway a bit back here, go left and thread carefully, you'll get back to the entrance in no time!'

'Thanks! I'll wish you the best of luck!' She wandered off, leaving them to explore the maze further, convienently arriving at a small circular space where there was a chest glimmering in all of the mirror reflections. 'Whoa! Which chest is the real one?'

'I got a idea!' Draco breathed fire at the mirrors, though only a little bit to heat them up, making them turn red, expect for one, which was a giveaway it was the real one. 'Good thinking there Draco!' They opened the chest, finding a yellow inkt stamp in it. 'Guess that's proof of the first test!' They stamped it on the card, and co-operated on backtracking, remembering where they came from on their way in...

Meanwhile...

Still idly twiddling her thumbs amongst other self-imposed activity's or methods to kill time while waiting in the cell, Witch couldn't help but feel rather suspicious and paranoid from being stuck in here all on her own, her mind still stuck on the contest and wanting to get released as quickly as possible. 'What's taking them so long? And how long has it been here anyway?!' She started gritting her teeth slightly. 'What if...Arle just purposely wants me stuck in here so she could eliminate me out of the contest? Yeah, that's it!' Though just as she jumped to a conclusion, she could make out a vague noise coming her way.

'Bah...where's the exit in this accursed dungeon?!' Schezo talked to himself in frustration, though he noticed some noises from a cell to the right of him shining light in there. 'What the...Witch?!' She initially shrieked, but was oddly surprised when she saw who it was. 'Y-you?! What are you doing here?!'  
'I could ask you the same thing. How'd you end up here?' She resonded angrily. 'What?! I ended up here thanks to you in the first place, you pervert!'

Schezo looked annoyed. 'I'm NOT a pervert, how many tim—what? I did this? I haven't even seen you up until right now!'  
'Don't lie! You ambushed all the women in the village last night and took them away along with me and Draco! I thought you were better than that!'  
Schezo scratched his head. 'Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I recall wandering about in the forest last night before I encountered Arle, and then she tricked me with something that made me fall asleep. Honestly, you got to believe me!'

The mere mention of Arle confirmed her suspicions. 'Arle got you trapped in this place here too? So she definitely set this up!" Schezo wasn't sure what she was getting at, but he approached her. 'Why are you stuck in here anyway? The cell's open-oh.' He noticed her lifting up her leg to show her chains. 'That's why, and don't try to cast any magic on it, it's pretty sturdy.  
'Darn it...where's your broom actually? Did they confiscate it from you?' She nodded. 'Yes, I don't know where they put it.'  
Schezo thought about something, and recalled the storage room from earlier. 'Hold on. I saw a storage room when I broke out of my cell earlier. I'll head back there right now and see if I can find your broom amongst the stuff stored there...'  
'Please come back quickly, will you?!' Witch shouted. 'I'm starting to feel hungry!'  
Schezo nodded, and hurried off, noting the cell digits she was kept in to remember her location...

Arle and her friends travelled to the west side of the keep, though they were suspicious that someone was following them, hiding behind the pillars and armor decorations, though Draco noticed quickly with her sensitive ears, and whispered it to them to turn around a corner, and they hided behind it, waiting for the person to come around the corner too. Draco jumped out, and startled Jan, who was trailing behind them, the blue-haired Djinn looking genuinely surprised. 'Jaaan! You scared Jan...'  
'Why are you following us like that anyway? Your group also dropped out?' She nodded slightly nervously. 'Jaaan, they did! They got scared of the smoke and ran away after we arrived at the first test, and now poor Jan is all by herself, until she saw you wandering around the hallways here.'  
Arle shrugged. 'Look Jan was it? It's restricted to 3 people per team, and even if you were to trail behind us, it's far too dangerous to linger around here. We're going to take care of that smoke. You best go outside before you inhale too much of that smoke.' Arle advised Jan, who coughed a bit from inhaling it already.  
'*Cough* I see...well see ya later, Jaaan...' She walked off towards the exit rather disappointed, though Arle felt sorry for her, she focussed her attention on the problem at hand, and pushed on with the others following her.

Arriving in another room in the west wing, they noticed another sign in a hallway.  
'The test of strength. Find a way to inflate the gigantic Puyo balloon, and get past it to claim your reward.'

'Hmm, a gigantic Puyo balloon?' Draco soon witnessed what it meant, then turning around the corner in the hallway and saw a big red Puyo balloon stuck in the hallway, with no way to climb over it or to sneak past, though they also saw a agitated cow woman trying desperately to kick a hole in it and making it burst. 'Dang it!' She shouted. 'I can't be bested by a mere balloon!' She noticed footsteps behind her, and turned around, them noticing her red eyes. 'Oh no, not her again...' Arle sighed, though Behemoth laughed and stood ready in a fighting pose. 'Bah, I won't tolerate competition from lesser tramps below my class!'  
'WHAT?!' Rulue and Draco shouted, with the former rushing towards her, intending to get revenge for the torture from earlier while she was at it.

'Graa!" While Behemoth and Rulue went at it with each other, Draco and Arle tried to focus their attention on the puzzle. 'So...brute force won't pop this thing...hey hold on! Arle, why don't you and I try to heat this thing up so it will pop from the pressure?'  
'Good idea! Fire!' Arle casted a large fireball at the base of the balloon and Draco breathed fire to enhance the fireball's size and heat, the balloon now glowing a deep red color as it was about ready to burst, Arle and Draco taking a few steps back, though Rulue and Behemoth reacted too late to it, and got blown back by the loud bang, both being catched by Arle and Draco respectively. 'Hey Rulue...are you okay?' Arle shaked her around slightly, though Rulue got up fairly quickly, fixating her hair back in shape. 'O-oh, of course Arle.' She turned her attention to Behemoth, who also opened up her eyes as Draco helped her up on her feet. 'Urgh...my head...oh! The balloon's vanished!' She rushed ahead to a chest where the balloon was, and opened it up, grabbing a stamp and filling her card up. 'Hm hm, easy stamp for me. Oh?' She noticed the trio standing behind her, and she sighed. 'Fine, this is a fair contest after all, here.' She tossed the stamp to them, and frowned seeing the smoke hanging around. 'This smoke is getting more annoying, just like in that other keep...I don't want to risk anything, so I'll leave you darlings to your own shenanigans, these 2 stamps are fine with me. Bye!' She rushed out of the hallway, with them just sighing in disbelief. 'I don't think she realizes we just helped her, again...'  
'Again?' Draco commented as she filled out their card with the stamp, before walking back with the group. 'It's a long story, Draco...'


	13. Chapter 12: Closure of the Contest

They returned to the main hallway inside the keep, looking at their card, noticing there was only one more stamp card logo remaining in their card. 'Hmm, we went east and west, I guess the last one's up north.' They noticed a staircase leading downwards to what seemed to be the cellar of the keep, and intended to descend it, though they backed off as they heard noises coming from the stairs, and were on guard, though two girls in white clothing with green and red hair respectively emerged from it, visibly scared. 'Ah! I can't take this anymore. This one test is too dangerous!' The red one cried. 'B-But...Emi's still trapped in there!' The green one responded, noticing the trio in front of them. 'Oh! Please ladies, would you be so kind to search for Emi in there?!' Arle tried to comfort them. 'H-Hold on. So one of you is trapped in there?'  
The red one nodded. 'Uh-huh. We tried to compete in the contest, but this smoke is too dangerous, and the darkness in the basement is too scary. We tried to split up for the test, but we can't press on like this!' The green-haired one pleaded. 'We're going to wait outside, if you're going down there, please find our sister Emi and tell her we're waiting outside!' They hurried on ahead, the group heading down into the descending staircase, hoping that this Emi girl they mentioned was alright, but they soon noticed that their surroundings became much darker, and only saw the faint lights of the torches hanging on the wall, and saw another sign on the ground, close to what seemed to be 3 different pathway's. 'Let's see...'Test of Courage...' If you answer correctly, you'll be allowed further in. If wrong, a sudden surprise will await.'

"A quiz?' Rulue nodded, noticing the question at the bottom of the sign: 'How many shops are there in Magiflog?' They noticed the different arrows on the sign pointing to a hallway with a door barring each of them. 'Let's see...' Draco pondered aloud to the rest. 'I was waiting in there for some time, so I went for some sightseeing...I think the answer is 7. There were seven shops in the town.'

'Very well, we'll trust you on your word, Draco.' Arle opened up the door corresponding the answer, and they proceeded cautiously in the darkness, turning a corner and noticing another squared room, though it being a large one, and a girl was crying out loudly, it being a blonde-haired one in a white dress. 'I-Is anyone there?! Please help me! I'm scared! Whaaaaa!" She shouted out, noticing the trio standing in the distance.  
'There! Isn't that the girl those two mentioned?' Rulue pointed, Draco intending to flap upwards and grab her as she was just standing there, but Emi cried out: 'No! Don't come over to here like that!'  
'What?! What do you mean?' Draco shouted.  
'This room is filled with invisible sticky goo! You have to be careful!'  
Rulue widened her eyes in disbelief. 'Invisible sticky goo?'  
'She's right.' Arle pointed to the sign. 'Correct answer! Now onto the 2nd portion: 'Daring Maze Trek!' On the outside, this seems like a simple square room, but there's invisible sticky goop that our magicians involved in the contest have sprayed all around the floor and even some hanging walls. Proceed cautiously and help each otherif you get stuck! Can you make it all the way to the end?'

'Looks like it's true...' Arle looked over the room. 'Invisible goop...but how to make it visible? Ah!' Arle tried to cast some ice, it sticking to various places, and she found a bit of a clear pathway. 'There we go. I think I found a way to get to Emi and the exit safely!" She lead the way with Draco and Rulue following suit. They soon reached Emi, helping her get away from the good that was stuck to her feet and dress, and she sniffled, thanking them. 'T-thanks! I was so scared...'

'There there...it's alright.' Arle patted her on her shoulder. 'Look, your sisters already left the building to wait outside for your return, they asked us to find you.' Emi smiled faintly. 'S-So they haven't forgotten about me? Great! Thanks again!' She ran off once she was freed, Arle's group pressing on, and exited the maze without too much hindrance. 'Well I suppose that's one way of figuring out that puzzle.'Draco commented, though they noticed the thick fog that they sensed around the keep was starting to get thicker, to the point of them almost not seeing anything now besides a faint light at the end of the darkened tunnel. *cough*, this smoke is getting annoyingly thicker!' Draco waved her hand in front of her face. 'I think we may very well be coming closer to the source of this smoke.' Rulue squinted her eyes as they arrived in yet another room, though they noticed amongst the faint lights that there was a big plant positioned in the center of the room, Draco being caught off guard by the size of it. 'What the heck is that?! That's causing the smoke?!'  
Arle nodded, though she was cautiously looking around if there was nothing lurking somewhere for a ambush, though she nodded to Carbuncle and the two dispatched of the plant with a large fireball and Carbuncle firing his laser at it, it exploding as they cued to Draco to stand back, the smoke fading slowly from the plant's removal, Draco sighing from relief. 'Whew, thanks. But what was that thing? You all seemed familiar with it.'  
Arle turned to Draco. 'These plants are the cause of things going odd around the world lately. They've been planted by a bunch of weird villains and we're trying to dispatch of them and track down those responsible for it.'  
'Sounds serious.' She noticed a chest behind the plant. 'Hey? Something's over there!' Rushing to the chest, she opened up the chest, finding yet another stamp for their card, it being the last one to fill out their card completely. 'Yes! We filled out all the stamps!' Draco smiled happily as she examined the card. 'Oh hold on, how late is it right now, Rulue?'  
She checked her watch. 'It's 14:40 right now.'  
'Good, if we get back to Magiflog now we might claim that reward in time and save Witch!' They were intending to travel back outside, but Arle noticed something under a couple of tiles that busted open from the plant's roots, and examined it, picking up a small golden card. 'Proof of finding the hidden item? I guess this is that secret that the host was talking about back in town.'

'Whoo! Now we'll win for sure!' Draco cheered, the girls not having any further reason to idle around in the keep, and intended to travel back...

'Bah...where is it...' Schezo grabbed various objects stored in the room, none of them looking like a broom, but nearing the end of his search among the dumped items, he noticed something tucked away in a corner and grabbed it, looking like a large brown broomstick with a small blue ribbon attached to the handle end of it, figuring out without a doubt that that's Witch's, grabbing it and climbing out of the heap, sighing from relief. 'Great, now to return to her—huh?' He noticed a seperate small room in the storage facility, littered with various chemicals and bottles. 'Hmm...'

'This is rather troubling...' The host sighed with a stressed expression as he observed various contestants returning to the stage to resign from the contest, addressing the crowd that's still mostly attend and chatting amongst themselves. 'I wonder what's causing so many of our contestants to drop out so suddenly. Did our correspondents make the contest that brutally hard for them to overcome? At this point the contest—huh?' He noticed a trio of girls rushing through the streets towards the stage, trying to catch their breath as they approached the stage. 'Look, audience, another group returned! I assume you're intending to resign as well—hm?' He noticed Rulue handing over the cards to him, much to his delight, his mood changing instantly. 'Not at all! We completed the tasks.' 'Wow! This team has actually managed to complete the tasks at GrateBridge Keep, and find the special card for the grand prize of 1000 gold! Give a enthusiastic applause for um...' He checked the card name briefly. 'Oh! Team Draco! Consisting of ladies Arle, Rulue and Draco!' The crowd cheered for them, especially Minotauros who was sitting amongst the frontline crowd members and even a few of the dropped out contestants, the girls all smiling as they were overwhelmed by the applauding audience.

'Jaaan!' A familiar blue-haired djinn jumped out from the side of the stage, looking rather steaming mad at the results, and pointed at the trio. 'Hold up! I find it highly suspicious how alot of the others dropped out and yet you three managed to complete this!' The girls were shocked by her accusations, though Rulue stepped forward, angry at Jan. 'Excuse me? What are you getting at here exactly?!'  
Jan's eyes turned viciously towards Rulue in particular. 'Jan thinks you three are behind the smoke that's been hanging around the keep that's been pestering me and the other contestants!'  
Rulue's face turned red from anger as the crowd was chatting amongst themselves, and the announcer was also dubious. 'Hold up, I heard from the contestants who dropped out that there was some weird smoke hanging around the castle, but there wasn't any sort of agreement with the correspondents that that would be involved, and they checked the place a half hour before the contest was taking place, and they didn't spot any smoke either.'

'See?' Rulue smirked. 'We don't have any involvement with this smoke or rigging the contest, and we got rid of the cause of it, so you better adjust your—'  
'JAAAAN!' She screamed out, the audience being shocked from her furious reaction, and she stomped the stage with her feet in anger. 'Shut up! You think you're cheeky and self-righteous?! Jan doesn't like that!' She smirked deviously, snapping her fingers and a small smoke cloud engulfing both the host and Rulue briefly. 'Jan thinks this is all rigged, and will repay with smoke tricks of her own, hee hee!' The smoke clouds vanished, and much to everyone's shock, both the announcer and Rulue tried to shout and say something, but nothing came out of their mouths. 'Rulue?! What's wrong?!' Arle was concerned for her, though Rulue viciously glared towards Jan, who just giggled.

'Hee hee, now you don't have such a big mouth, do you?! Jan's put a silencing spell on you both and is going home! Ja-Ja-Jaaaan!' She vanished in a puff of smoke as Rulue and Minotauros both lunged for her, falling on the ground respectively, one of the administrators of the contest stepping forward and grabbing the mic from the announcer. 'Oh no! T-this is awful news! Without the host, the contest can't be properly concluded!'

'What?!' Arle and Draco both shouted in shock, looking at each other. 'That Jan girl, she's got some real nerve to do something like this to Rulue and the host, Arle looking slightly devastated. 'Now it'll be really hard for us to free Witch with how things are looking right now...we've got to find that Jan immediately!'

'Easy for you to say Arle, but she vanished in a puff of smoke, as in we can't deduce where she vanished off to!' Draco responded slightly irritated, though at that moment, a lone girl stepped up on the stage raising her hand. 'E-Excuse me?'  
'What is it?' Draco responded, approaching her. 'I know this Jan person, we're kind of good friends, but this contest has been really important to her, since she wanted to win the prize money to buy something for me as a token of our friendship.' She looked rather embarrassed. 'I know where she lives. It's to the north of this town on the mountains of Cloudclimb Hills. She lives near the snowy peaks of it, so it isn't hard to miss that.'

Draco was slightly relieved. 'Cloudclimb Hills, huh? We can reach the mountaintops easily if I carry you there Arle, so we'll both confront her!' Arle nodded, though she sounded slightly worried. 'J-Just hold me tight, okay? I don't want to fall down...'  
'Don't worry, you're safe in my hands!' Draco nudged her, though the girl stepped forward, pleading to them. 'P-Please don't be so harsh to Jan, alright? It is wrong what she did here, but...she did wanted to win this badly for my sake...' They assured her that they wouldn't do anything horrible to Jan. 'Hey, don't misjudge us. We are angry at her, but we just want her to lift the spell, there's something important hinging on this contest for a friend of us as well.'

The girl nodded from relief, and Draco grabbed Arle and Carbuncle firmly as they were about to take off. 'Minotauros, keep a eye on Rulue, we're back as quickly as possible when we track down Jan.'  
'Moo...please be careful Arle...' Minotauros and Rulue watched them take off, Rulue pouting as she tried to make the best of it...

They ascended towards the north of the town, noticing a mountain close to them with a faint white peak in sight. 'There! That must be where Jan must live according to the girl.'  
'Let's go then!' Draco flapped her wings and soared towards the top with Arle and Carbuncle in tow, coming closer to the peak within mere minutes. 'Wait...what's that smoke? Is it purple like in the keep?' Arle noticed a faint smoke as they came closer to the ground, landing on the soft patches of snow on a flat grassy surface, and travelled further on foot, coming closer to a area with trees and where the smoke was getting thicker, Arle and Draco being horrified by the sight of a floating eyeball creature hovering close to Jan and pouring out smoke from it's eye, stopping when the duo came closer. 'What's that?!' Draco pointed towards it, Arle braving herself. 'Most likely what's influencing Jan here...' Much to her deduction, she was right, as Jan turned around, her red eyes glaring towards them as she looked rather cocky towards them. 'Jaaaann...Jan doesn't like intruders on her home turf...'

'Hey, Jan. Get away from that freak and please return to the town to undo what you did, alright?' Draco tried to plead to her, being afraid to come closer, though Jan cackled. 'Jan doesn't think so! In fact Jan likes to cause even more mischief now!The great Jan will start with you brats right here for a start, Ja-ja-jaaaan!' She clapped her hands enlarging them and causing the sky to turn bleak, as clouds were forming above their heads.

'She sure got cockier...' Draco was cautious.  
'She's being controlled by that eye monster. Rulue and I had a few encounters with these beings before. Listen, we need to destroy that thing to free Jan. Thoe red eyes indicate she's being controlled by that monster!'  
Draco looked at the monster hovering behind Jan, and she nodded. 'Right...I'll try to distract Jan, you and your pet take care of that eye!' Draco flew towards Jan, who made the dark clouds rain and strike thunderbolts towards them, Arle and Draco dodging them as Draco tried to kick Jan to loose her focus, but she enlarged her hands to block the kicks, meanwhile Arle rushed towards the eye, and attempted to focus her energy into forming a ice spell to cast towards the iris, though the eye was aware of it, and made several copies of itself to throw Arle off, and she was confused, but didn't have much time to react, as all of them were forming a purple energy, intending to fire a laser at Arle, who got disoriented from their numbers.

'Arle!' Draco regained her composure, and breathed fire at the clouds to vaporize them, flying close to Arle, though Jan smirked. 'Ja-ja-jaaan! Time to swat some annoying flies away!' She enlarged her hand to gigantic proportions, and swinged it towards their direction, a huge gust of wind blowing towards them, though Draco managed to lift up Arle in time and fly away, the eyeball monster got cuaght off guard from the wind gust, and the fake ones got blown away into nothingness, his attack nullified as well, and Draco took the chance to do something about it, building up a intense heat in her mouth before spewing it at the eye, it making a faint screeching sound as it burned in pain, Jan screaming as well. 'AAAH! JAN'S HEAD!' She fainted afterwards, falling to the snow-covered ground, as Arle issued Carbuncle to fire a laser towards the eye. 'Do it Carby!"  
'Guu!' He fired off a laser from his gem towards the eye monster, piercing it as it burned away into dust, vaporizing into nothingness, Arle and Draco sighing from relief with Arle picking up Carbuncle.

'Good job, Carby!"  
They approached the unconscious Jan, who opened up her eyes, grabbing her horns and rubbing it 'Ah...Jan's not feeling well...' She realized who were standing before her, and crawled up, panicking. 'Ja-jaaan! You two from the contest?! What are you doing at Jan's home territory?!'

Arle tried to calm her down. 'Jan, don't panic, please. We know what you did, but we just want to reason with you.'  
'Reason with Jan? How so? Jan was just enjoying the prank she pulled and suddenly this weird eyeball monster appeared out of nowhere and Jan felt dizzy...'  
'Look, it's a bit hard to explain, but let's just keep it at that we got rid of that eyeball monster for you.' Draco explained. 'We saw a girl at the contest's audience crowd who told us that you entered it for the sake of winning money to buy her something neat for your friendship, isn't that right?'

Jan immediately knew what Draco was talking about, and she looked ashamed. 'Ja-jaaan... it's true...Amelia, is she really that concerned about Jan?'  
They nodded. 'Jan, look. We aren't that interested in the money. I'm in the contest purely for that elixir that's important for me in order to save a friend who's stuck in a dungeon somewhere. I know that you're not pleased that you lost, but Amelia is concerned that you let yourself go too far out of spite. Will you please just undo the spell you cast on Rulue and the announcer?'

'Jan nodded. 'Jan's really sorry for all the trouble she caused. Jan will go to the town right away!' She disappeared in a puff of smoke, Draco lifting up Arle and Carbuncle as they set off towards the town of Magiflog once more.

A few minutes later, they landed amongst the crowd, with the host announcing their return. 'Ah, as the djinn predicted, they returned!' The crowd applauded their return and Rulue approached Jan. 'Jan...I'm sorry for calling you out like that. I should have thought about what I said.' Jan smiled, though she shrugged faintly in return. 'Jan's really sorry for what she did as well, no more immature pranks from now on!'

''Look at that ladies and gentlemen! It seems like this contest will be closing on a note of forgiveness as well.' The host stepped forward to Arle, Draco and Rulue, and gave them a bag containing 1000g, and one of the presentation girls stepped forward with a large plate with the prizes for them to choose from. 'The gold's the grand prize for finding the special card, and since your group finished first, all 3 of you gets to choose from something on the plate!'  
Rulue settled with the diamond ring, Draco with a arm bracelet and Arle chose for the magical elixir, reading the description. 'Repairs any substance it's poured on...amazing!'

The host turned his attention to the other contestants who managed to fill out a few stamps for their rewards, and the trio turned to Jan and Amelia. 'Hey, you two, here, take the gold.'  
'Jaaan?!' She accepted the bag Rulue tossed over, much to their surprise. 'Are-are you serious about giving us the money like that?'

Arle nodded. 'Of course! We said we weren't in it for the money. You can have it so you two can buy something great, as long as you promise you won't do anything nasty ever again, alright?' Jan eagerly nodded. 'Sure! Jan will be a good girl from now on!' She hurried along with Amelia in tow, who glanced over briefly to express her gratitude for forgiving Jan and being so generous.

'And with that, the grand beauty contest of Magiflog is hereby officially over! I wish you all a great day!' The announcer dismissed the audience, and they all started to leave the stage, minding their own business, though Arle wasted no time in pouring some of the elixir over the broken key she had stored away, and much to their delight, it mended back in one piece.

'Yes! It worked! Now we need to hurry back to the dungeon and release Witch!' Arle noticed the time on the giant clock tower in the town. '15:18 already?! We got to hurry if we don't want Witch lashing out at us for missing the contest!' They were about to head off, though Draco addressed Arle.  
'Hey, Arle.' She turned around. 'Oh, what is it Draco?'

'This might sound sudden, but do you mind if I accompany your group on your journey?' Arle smiled. 'Gladly! Though, why, actually?'  
'That plant and that eyeball freak from earlier looked pretty dangerous. You lot helped me out of a tight spot and win the contest, so it's only fair I help you out in return, right?' Arle smiled, but hurried on ahead. 'Nice to hear you want to help us, but we really got to go now! We can't leave Witch hanging!'

They rushed out of Magiflog, though Minotauros sniffled a bit catching Rulue's attention. 'Mistress Rulue...that was truly mature of you to forgive Jan like that...' Rulue blushed slightly. 'Oh, keep silent, you oaf!'

Arriving back at the Count's still deserted estate, Arle's group noticed Suketoudara and Harpy approaching the entrance, and caleld out to them, catching their attention. 'Huh? Hey look Harpy! It's Arle and her crew!'  
'Helloooo! So glad to see you agaaaain!' Harpy greeted them, much to some dismay of a few of them, grabbing their ears. 'H-Harpy, Suketoudara, did you two just return here?'  
They nodded. 'Yep, we took a bit because the villagers were really grateful for our efforts and loved to hear us perform tonight, then we just met up here and were just intending to check back on how Witch was doing in there.'

'Speaking of which, did you manaaaaage to obtain that elixir?' Arle smiled, holding it in front of them. 'That a clear enough answer for you?' They were surprised, and didn't waste any time in accompanying the others to the dungeon, heading back to Witch's cell, but much to their shock, they found it was empty!

'Witch?! She's gone!" Arle shouted, looking a bit pale from the surprise, and rushed over to the chains she was locked in, noticing that the bracelets got split into two. 'S-She managed to break free on her own?!' Rulue shouted, though Draco pointed out that the bracelets looked like they were melted apart.


	14. Chapter 13: Return to old territory

Arle and the others were confused as to what could have happened to Witch. 'How did she get out of those chains? Did someone free her?' Suketoudara shrugged. 'Doubt it. Harpy and I didn't inform anyone about Witch's current state.'  
Rulue inspected the chains. 'But these chains do look like they're melted off...perhaps one of those monsters returned here and freed Witch just to take her somewhere else?'

Arle grew worried when she heard that. 'D-Darn...if that's the case...wait!' Arle snapped her fingers in a bright moment, and recalled something from earlier. 'Witch told us earlier that she intended to go to a sorcery tournament to the east.' Harpy wasn't quite sure what she was getting at. 'What do you mean with thaaaaat, Arle?'  
'If Witch did manage to escape on her own somehow, she'll most likely be heading to that tournament she was talking about earlier.'  
'That's a good lead as any to start looking for her whereabouts. Where did she say she intended to go to again?' Rulue asked Arle, who walked towards the exit.  
'To the east...no, south-east was it?' Arle wasn't exactly sure what the town was called again, but she went on ahead to exit the dungeon and to find any clues on where that location was, and Witch's current state...

'Skree!' Phoenix landed with Crocovile on the plains to the far west of where they had their earlier squarrel with Arle's group, and regrouped, noticing their mistress approaching them out of a dark mist cloud with Doppelganger Arle in tow. 'You two took awhile. You ran into problems?'  
Crocovile nodded. 'Yeah...those girls escaped from the keep and we tried to get rid of them in the forest while on their own, but a large bull of sorts ambushed us and threatened Phoenix, so we had to bail out and continue our assignment with planting the seeds, which we just did.'

'Urgh...I can still feel his grip on my neck...' Phoenix scowled out, rubbing her neck. Cruelia grumbled out of frustration. 'Bah...at least the plants are at work, but we have to undertake different measures if we want to succeed our mission...especially with one of our allies now striking out on his own.'

'Huh? What do you mean with that?' Crocovile approached Cruelia, curious to know, though Doppelganger Arle answered for her stead. 'It seems that the other guy who's been working along with you people has had enough of just playing along nicely, and has decided to attempt something in a town to the far east. Though he did want that creature you captured some time ago, didn't he?'

Cruelia nodded, though she dismissed him. 'He can do with that cat whatever he desires, but as long as he doesn't plan to go up against us, he's still of some use to us indirectly. But...we do need some more help...our master cannot wait for much longer, and your good counterpart isn't intending on stopping our schemes any time soon...' Doppelganger Arle simply smiled cunningly as she turned towards the west. 'Hmm...I think I know where we should get new help from then...'

Eventually making their way to the far southeast of Eastcrevice Village through the woods after they asked the villagers on directions of a possible town to the southeast, they entered a wide open meadow with various hills in the distance, Arle in particularly standing still once the clear view came in sight, feeling as she's been around this area before in her life...

'Arle? What's wrong?' Draco tapped her shoulder, her reaction nearly scaring Carbuncle off her shoulder, and Arle barely catched him in her arms quickly enough. 'Ah!' Putting him back on her shoulder, she turned to Draco. 'It's nothing. I'm not suddenly ill or anything, but...this area seems familiar to me, even though I haven't been here as far as I can recall.'

'Huh...really?' Arle nodding, though pressed on nonetheless through the grassy fields, and crossing a hill, though upon reaching the top of the hill, Arle's memory was alot more vivid when she noticed a moderately large village at the feet of the hill they were standing on, along with a tall tower in the distance. 'Could it be...' She noticed the sign stating that 'Magician's Village' was just ahead, and got the urge to just run towards the village without a moment's hesitation, the rest chasing after her. 'Arle?! Hey! Wait up!' Reaching the village in a mere minute, Arle's mind was filled with nostalgia as she noticed the familiar buildings. 'You finally stopped...ha...' Rulue sighed. 'Why are you suddenly so energetic?' Arle turned around, smiling faintly, though her eyes beamed with happiness.

'I...I grew up in this village when I was young!' The rest reacted rather shocked. 'R-Reallyyyy?!' Harpy was the loudest of them all.  
'Yes...it's been so long since I've been here, I barely even remember where it was since I moved to another town a couple of years ago, but I grew up in this place, Magician's Village!' She dashed through the neighborhood, stopping by one particular house which was her former home, where her parents raised her. She was rather nervous to just knock on the door, wondering if her parents were still doing alright after all this time since she moved... taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, hoping that someone would open, the others standing behind her.

Though a elderly woman did open, it being Arle's mother. 'Hello? How can—' she interrupted herself, noticing the face of her own daughter, and grabbed her hands. 'Is...is that you, Arle?!' She smiled eagerly, being overjoyed. 'Mom! I'm so glad you're doing alright!' They hugged each other, her mother noticing the weird figures standing behind her. 'Arle...who are these people?!'She backed off slightly, noticing the weird yellow creature on Arle's shoulder. 'And what is that?!'

Arle reassured her mother. 'Mom, don't worry. This is Carbuncle!' She grabbed him, him smiling as usual to the woman, her smiling gently. 'So this is your pet of sorts, I guess?' She nodded, then pointing to the others who approached the door. 'And these are friends of mine.' The woman greeted them all, and eased up, inviting them all inside where they greeted Arle's father who was inside the basement working on fixing a furniture piece, and they caught up on what was going on in the village and how Arle was living currently in another village, though Arle didn't tell her mother about the odd plants she encountered.

'So there's this tournament going on in the village, right?' Arle questioned her father.  
'Yes, there is. I caught news of it while I was out shopping for new tools, but apparently your old school is hosting something near that tower you ventured through as a young child, and I believe it started around this time...16:00 was it?' They looked at the clock, noticing it was 16:15 by now, and Arle got up, remembering about what Witch said. 'Oh drat! Mom, dad, thanks for the information, but I've got to go to that tower! I'll catch up with you two later!' Arle rushed out with the others following her, leaving her parents clueless, though they watched her rush through the streets towards her old kindergarten school. 'She's always been such a busy girl...'

Approaching her old kindergarten school, Arle was happy to see it didn't change much over the years, though she noticed a large banner reading 'Grand Sorcery Tournament' hanging over the entrance of her school with various people hanging out around the entrance to her school, and a poster hanging to the right of the entrance with specific details regarding the contest, the group reading it:

'Grand Sorcery tournament! Can you traverse the Tower of Illusions with a partner in a special event and claim the golden sphere for a special magic spell? Registrations are restricted to 13 years minimal. Head the headmaster's office of the Magic Kindergarten school for more details.'

'A partner? Looks like it's—'

'Arle?!' She was cut off mid-sentence by a energetic blonde-haired girl with a ponytail approaching her, calling her out loudly. 'Almost jumping up witless from the voice, the group turned around, noticing the girl who looked rather happy to see Arle. 'Is that truly you?!'

'Hold on...' Arle took a closer look at the girl, and recognized her instantly. 'Lala?!'  
'Yep, it's me!' She grabbed Arle's hands. 'It's been so long since we last met up! I instantly recognize that face anywhere! How have you been holding up?!' Arle made a gesture for her to lower her voice, and she nodded. 'I-I'm fine Lala. How have you been holding up?' She got the cue, and giggled. 'Hee hee, I'm fine, though I overslept...' Looking slightly embarrassed. 'I intended to enter the tournament here earlier, but I got too nervous last night and I woke up a couple of hours ago, and had to do some stuff, I hope I'm just not too late...' She turned her attention to Arle.

'Wait up...did you come all the way over here to enter the tournament as well?!'  
'I-I didn't come here specifically just for that, but I guess I should as well.' Lala grabbed her hand and dashed inside. 'Great! Come on then! While we still have a chance!' The others followed them inside through the hallways, with Lala coming to a halt inside the headmaster's office, letting go of Arle to talk with a blue-haired older man behind the desk.

'Who's this girl? She's pretty wild...' Suketoudara looked rather awkwardly at the blonde girl chatting away. 'That's Lala...she's my best friend from way back during our kindergarten days.' Arle looked at her from the distance, though she signaled her to come over towards her, making Arle giggle. 'She's always been energetic like that, glad she hasn't changed a bit, heheh.'

Approaching the headmaster's office, he looked up closer to the girl. 'Ah...so this is Arle? Ah, I remember you from long ago...' Arle just nervously nodded, his demeanor not having changed much either. 'So you intend to enter with Arle as your partner in the contest, are you Lala?' She nodded, forking over the entrance fee. 'Yes sir! Here, I'll even pay for both of us, as that's what friends do, right Arle?' She beamed to her, making Arle blush. 'H-hey, thanks Lala..' Though Arle suddenly remembered something. 'Um, excuse me, Mr. Headmaster?'

He looked up as he finished signing up their names. 'Just call me Horace, this isn't kindergarten anymore, Arle.' She nodded slightly embarrassed. 'Sorry, bad habit. But, did you by any chance see a blonde-haired girl dressed in blue who signed up for the contest as well?' The headmaster put his hand under his chin as he tried to remember. 'There were alot of blonde-haired girls with blue clothing who signed up earlier, so my memory is kind of foggy...maybe one of the supervisors of the contest might be able to tell you more.'

'Ah, Arle?' They looked behind them, noticing a black-haired young man wielding a staff entering the room, surprised to see Arle. 'Camus?! What are you doing here?'

'I'm here to supervise—Ack!' He was interrupted mid-sentence by Lala who glomped onto him. 'Camy dearie!' He pushed her off gently, brushing his clothes. 'N-not now, Lala. Er-hum. Like I wanted to say, I'm here to supervise the contest and guide entrants to the Tower of Illusions. Since you two entered, I'll be here to guide you to the tower. He nodded to the others standing not far away from them. 'Your companions can journey along as well, Arle. But only as far to the tower's entrance. Only those with magic powers and those who signed up for the contest can enter the tower.'

They all nodded, following Camus outside of the building and the town, towards the tower not far away from the town itself, it coming closer in view, and Arle tapped Camus on the shoulder, the rest following not far behind them. 'Yes Arle?'

'Camus, this might sound strange, but do you by any chance spot a blonde-haired girl amongst the contestants who was clad in blue and wore a blue pointy hat that drooped downward? Her name was Witch.'

'Oddly specific, but yes, I do recall seeing such an individual who signed up with that name and with a blue hat like you described, was carrying a fancy-looking broom as well.' Arle was relieved to hear that. 'Really?! Whew, glad to hear she's alright then.' Camus tilted his head slightly. 'Eh? Is she a friend of yours who got in trouble then?' She nodded. 'Yes, though friend is a bit rather far-fetched to describe her.' Lala got curious as well. 'Really? But...we are still friends no matter what, right Arle?' She nodded. 'Of course, Lala. This Witch person is pretty different than how you are, she views me as a rival for some reason...oh! This contest was only limited to a 2-person team restriction, right?'

Camus nodded. 'But...who did Witch sign up for the contest with then?'  
They approached the tower, noticing several people around the tower, amongst which a few people exited it. 'With a white-haired young man around my age...what was his name...oh yeah, Schezo Wegey.' Arle was shocked to hear his name. 'What?! Schezo as well?!' They both looked at her. 'You also familiar with him?'

'Yeah...though I'm surprised to learn they'd even team up together...' Camus explained further. 'They seemed to know each other pretty well. Wouldn't stop arguing with each other about the payment and how they were going to tackle the contest while I guided them over here.'  
'Wow...are they familiar with each other then?'

Coming up to the stair case, they noticed a green-haired woman with her hair in a small braid greeting them. 'Teacher!' Arle greeted her old teacher from kindergarten, who smiled to the duo. 'Is that you Arle? What a pleasant surprise!'  
'This feels more and more like a reunion rather than a contest, haha!' The teacher giggled. 'Hm-hm, but Arle, this is no time to talk about old times...well not to that extent.' Arle and Lala looked up, noticing the tower's intimidating height. 'This is where the contest was held, right? The Tower of Illusions...the same one I had to prevail for my graduation exam?' The teacher nodded. 'Yes. Though this is not the same as a standard graduation exam. Contestants are to climb to the top and obtain the golden sphere to proof that they won the contest, but it won't be easy.'

Arle felt nervous, just as she felt many years ago, though she wasn't alone in this matter this time. 'I'll pull through, along with Lala here.'  
'Hee hee!' Lala simply giggled. 'Hmm, you two certainly seem confident. Well, once you pass through here, you're up on your own. If things get too dangerous for your liking, you can call upon Camus, who will use his warp magic to teleport you outside, but that will also mean that you'll forfeit the contest. Is this all clear?' They nodded, though Lala winked to Camus, who just blushed slightly, looking to the side. 'I'll better withhold myself from calling him.'

'Right, good luck you two.' They entered the door, it slamming shut behind them, the hallways eerily lit with the torches around the place, which permanently seemed to burn nonstop...'

'Right, let's proceed onwards, Lala. ' They proceeded onward towards a uphill pathway...


	15. Chapter 14: Ambushes in the Tower

Arle and Lala ventured deeper in the tower, both noticing the hallways becoming darker and barely being lit by the torches, though as they turned around the corner, they were ambushed by a black shadow with large white-glowing eyes and a wide grin who grabbed Lala's arms and lifted her up in the air slightly. 'Eee!' Though Arle was quick enough to send a bolt of ice towards the shadow's head to freeze it in place, and allowing Lala to wrestle herself free and land back on the ground, and she tried to set the shadow on fire with a fire spell she casted after the ice broke off, but to no avail, and the shadow just vanished off further in the tower.

'Are you okay?' Arle put a hand on Lala's shoulder out of concern, but she smiled faintly, assuring her safety. 'Of course. I was scared there briefly, but I know I can count on you to watch my back, Arle. It's just...' She looked down briefly in slight shame. 'After I graduated from kindergarten long ago, I didn't really pursue magic as much as you most likely did, and I think my spells and knowledge might not be as great as yours...' Arle patted her on the shoulder in return to assure she didn't mind Lala's issue. 'You've been a good friend of mine since kindergarten, you really think I wouldn't accept you as my partner in this contest knowing that? Wrong!' She brightened up, and thanked her, the duo agreeing to move onward in the tower, watching each other's back as they approached a sign on a dead end after a few minutes of wandering about...

'What's this...a giant fountain?' They observed the stone fountain beyond the sign, only to find it being inactive, and a small staircase leading to where water would be spraying from in the center. Reading the sign, they were confused at what it said. 'Obtain from the sneaky one, and 1 step will be solved...'

Just as they were trying to figure out what the sign said, the shadow from before snuck up on them again, and nabbed Carbuncle off Arle's shoulder, him squeaking in fear. 'G-Gu—mph!" They turned around to witness the shadowy creature from before muffle Carbuncle and made a run for it, the two giving chase. 'Give Carby back, you creep!' They turned around a corner and saw that the hallway split into two, and they quickly seperated as well, both seeing the shadowy figure around the corner, and attempted to jump at him, but he anticipated it and jumped up to the ceiling, causing Arle and Lala to bump face-first right against each other, the shadowy Specter just grinning with a weird mischievous cackle, and swinged Carbuncle between his arms, visibly taunting them.

'Grr...ah!' Arle got up as did Lala after rubbing off their injury, and they resumed their chase, though as the Specter turned around the corner, Lala gave a cue for Arle to remain around the corner, and chased down Specter on her own, returned to the split pathway, and went straight ahead again, though he was caught off guard as Arle casted a ice spell towards the mischievous shadow right as he turned around the corner, and froze solid on the ceiling, falling down with Carbuncle flying out from his grasp as Arle caught him. 'Carby! Are you alright?'

"Guu!' He replied happily, though Lala turned around the corner, and the two Specter whose body just dissolved on the floor with his smile fading away as well after the ice shattered off upon hitting the ground, leaving behind a small blue orb. Picking it up, it became clear to Lala what the puzzle sign said. 'Arle, let's go back to that stone fountain!' She hurried along, with Arle and Carbuncle following suit.

Arriving back at the stone fountain, Lala crouched as she inspected the fountain's base, noticing a small hole where something's supposed to be placed. 'Arle!' She reached out a hand towards Arle. 'Could you please give me that orb we got from that freaky shadow? I think it's supposed to be placed in here.' Arle handed her the orb, and Lala placed it down, noticing some faint sounds coming from the base of the fountain as the orb glowed, and stepped back.  
The fountain started spraying water, though it looked to be a strong geyser they could swear they'd almost be able to stand on it. 'Hey...what's that?' Arle pointed upwards, noticing the geyser reached to the ceiling where there was a noticeable large gap in it, and Lala connected A and B together, nodding for Arle to come along as she hurried on the staircase as the geyser lowered.

'Come on, Arle! We need to ride this stream to the next floor!' She stood on it, Arle following her on top of the staircase, and they slowly stepped on the water itself, it being oddly solid, and it pushed them upwards at a decent pace, reaching out for the edge of the ceiling's gap as they reached the top, Arle helping Lala climb up and Lala reaching out a hand to help Arle and Carbuncle up in turn.

Moving on ahead on the 2nd floor, they saw the hallways becoming slightly brighter, but right as they were to climb another staircase, they heard some faint chanting and the torches on the wall were extinguished, Lala and Arle panicking in the darkened hallway. 'Ah! What's going on? Is this part of another test?'

'I don't know...but...I feel weird...' Arle responded by making a fireball light up from her hands, and saw that a weird blue aura was pouring from Lala towards the staircase, and Arle flung the fireball towards the staircase. 'Ack!' Someone yelled it belonging to a male individual from the sound of it, and Arle relighted the torches with her fire spell, and helped Lala up. 'Are you okay?' She crawled up, holding her head. 'Yeah. Who did that?' Arle ran ahead. 'I don't know, but he's going to pay for it!'

Running up the staircase, Arle noticed that a blonde-haired young man was dousing the fire from his robe with his staff, and spotted Arle, whiffing his robe about, trying to put up a tough attitude. 'Bah...here I was thinking it was going to be easy...' He was greeted with a blast of ice from Arle, though he retorted by putting his staff to the ground an summoning a fireball of greater size which doused Arle's ice spell and made her dodge his spell, Lala rushing upstairs to aid her.

'Who are you?!' He grinned, confidently waving aside his blonde hair. 'I'm the great Wizard, and soon you two will taste my power, before I taste yours!' They noticed his red eyes glaring to them, which Arle took heed of, and flinged his staff, creating a small tornado that came towards their direction, though Lala tried to combat it by swinging a fireball of her own towards it, only for it to spin out of it's traject from the tornado's gust, and almost hit Wizard's head, him ducking. 'Argh! Y-you...'

Arle continued her own assault, and launched a thunder spell, whiffing it through the tornado in Wizard's direction, who had his staff knocked out of his grasp from the jolt of electricity hitting his hand, and Lala tried rushing over to it to grab it, though he wasn't a complete dunce to fall for it. 'Oh no you won't!" As she grabbed his staff, he chanted a paralyze spell that nearly took it's full effect on her, though she resisted to the best of her strength, and whacked him squarely on the head with his own staff, a loud noise emitting through the hallways, and Wizard lost conscience, Lala getting up and annoyed at the blonde jerk's antics, was about to whack him on the head once more for good measure, though Arle interrupted her. 'Hold on Lala!'

'Why should I?' She glared viciously to his unconscious head. 'He tried to do something weird to me and also nearly paralyzed me!' Arle managed to hold her off in time to explain the situation. 'Those red eyes of him, they aren't probably his natural color, or his behavior.'  
'Huh? How do you know?' Just as Arle was going to explain, he grunted and grabbed his head, drooling and trying to recollect himself. 'Urgh...did my sis whack me on the head again?' He mumbled out, as Arle noticed his immediate change in demeanor, and helped him up. 'Hey, are you alright?' Thankfully, the hit wasn't anything serious to cause a concussion, and she noticed his eyes were of a blue color. 'Eh, I-I'm fine...but what happened?'

'You were attacking us, you jerk!' Lala grabbed him by his robes and nearly lifted him up, the blonde guy panicking. 'Wh-what?! I don't recall doing that! I was competing in the tournament with someone, and then I encountered this freaky creature!'

Arle questioned him further. 'Put him down Lala! What do you mean, some freaky creature? Was it by any chance some large eyeball?' He nodded. 'How do you know that?'  
'It's complicated to explain, but the gist is that I'm trying to defeat those things, they cause alot of trouble. Anyway, you mentioned that you were participating in the contest with someone, right? Where did he or she run off to?' Wizard shrugged. 'Bah, she abandoned me out of fear.' He looked the other way out of irritation, folding his arms. 'If only that white-haired pretty boy didn't show up along with my sister, I would have teamed up with her as intended.'

'H-Hold up!' Arle grabbed his shoulder, catching his attention. 'This white haired pretty boy...was he dressed in white?' He nodded. 'Yup, he looked pretty menacing with a sword as well. I was annoyed that my sis insisted that he'd be her partner in the contest when they showed up at the entrance, so I had to settle with someone else at the last minute. '

'So Schezo's indeed here...oh, that sister of yours, is she by any chance clad in blue and carrying around a broom?' He nodded, looking pretty baffled at Arle.' You one of her friends? She usually doesn't talk to me about them...though she does rant to me about this one Arle girl who keeps beating her in showdowns—wait up...are you that very same Arle?!' She nodded, putting up a faint grin. 'H-Hold up, alright? I don't have any quarrel with you! Either way, I'm forfeiting this contest with my partner gone and because of that freaky monster. I'd much rather grow stronger the easy way...' He looked slightly embarrassed at the girls.

'Um...you happen to know in which direction you came from?' Lala grinned. 'Oh, don't worry, we know how to get you out of here.' She put her hands to her mouth and shouted loudly. 'CAMUS!'  
'Ah! No need to—whoa!" As if on cue, a figure emerged from a warp spell in the room, and addressed the group. 'Alright, Lala. No need to shout that loudly. I take it you're forfeiting?' She blushed at the mere sight of him as usual, but snapped out of it and pulled Wizard towards him. 'Nope! This guy is, he's just a bit forgetful!' Wizard glared in her direction as if to protest, but decided not to, and nodded when Camus questioned him if that was true.

'Alright. Just stand still, and I'll have you outside in a flash. Good luck to you two.' Just as Camus was casting his spell, Wizard told the duo to send his regards to his sister if she was still in the contest.  
'Right, let's move on ahead, Lala. No doubt that Witch and Schezo are still in here as well.' Arle intended to ascend upwards, but Lala grabbed her shoulder. 'H-hold up! What kind of person is this Schezo? Is he...dangerous?'

Arle glanced to the side, unsure of what to say about him. 'Dangerous...isn't exactly what I would describe him...he's more or less some kind of weirdo that borders on never getting his words out right...' Right as they moved on ahead, Lala pondered. 'A weirdo eh? I wonder if he's silly like Camussy...'


	16. Chapter 15: The Terror of the Tower

The duo continued further upwards, though they noticed that some weird purple smoke was starting to sip through the hallways, but continued onwards anyway.

'Grr...is this another one of those illusionary tricks? That smell's awful!" Witch commented, though Schezo just moved onwards, trying to ignore the smoke. 'Don't let it get to your head, alright? Keep focused on the objective of finding that golden sphere.' Schezo mumbled as he kept on walking forward, grabbing his sword to cut through a dark fog on the way to where they believed the sphere to be...

Though Arle and Lala proceeded through the complex maze structure without too much trouble on the higher floors, they suddenly noticed a dark fog in the hallway, small fumes of it seeping through the walls, and Arle grabbed Lala's shoulder cautiously. 'Hold up Lala...something about that fog's not right. We should proceed very close to each other if we're heading in there.'

Lala nodded, and grabbed Arle's hand as they both made a small compact fireball in their hands to serve as makeshift lanterns in the dark, proceeding through the fog with Carbuncle clinging tight onto Arle, it getting more darker and darker. Eventually Lala's vision was so foggy that she could barely see her own fireball, and clinged onto Arle's hand tightly. 'A-Arle, are you still there?!' She shouted wanting to hear it was indeed her she was grabbing, nervously cautious in the fog.

'Yes, I'm still holding your hand—ah!' Arle tripped over a loose stone in the tower's structure, and released Lala's hand, who almost fell along with Arle, but regained her footing, and desperately shouted each other's name, the hollow hallways making it hard to make out where their voices came from, as it echoed everywhere.

'A-Arle! I'm scared!' Lala shouted, her face turning white as she wandered in the darkness, but suddenly she saw a faint light, and headed slowly towards it, seeing a door near the light revealing to be a torch, and she opened it, seeing the other end of the door having barely any smoke in it, and she stepped inside, though she noticed Arle walking ahead, and rushed over to her. 'Hey! Arle, wait up!' She tried grabbing her shoulder, but Carbuncle looked at her with a dreaded expression, firing off a blinding light from his gem, which Lala covered her eyes from, and slowly re-opening her eyes, she saw Arle muttering something as she faced her friend, her smirk turning to a creepily sadistic smile slowly, the teeth going through her cheeks, and Lala screamed at the top of her lungs as she saw Arle's skin slowly melt in a goo-like substance, dissolving into the ground, pulling her hands to her face, but then realized her own hand was melting as well.

'Lala?! Where did that voice come from?!' Arle shouted, also worried for her friend's safety, but only the anguishing screams responded, Arle being unsure where it came from, and at wit's end, Carbuncle came to her aid by courageously emitting a light from his gem, it creating a small piercing light that allowed Arle to briefly notice something, a pair of red eyes to the west of her, and she flung a thunder spell in that direction immediately, a hollow painful squeaking heard from it.

Though in exchange, the dark fog quickly subdued and vanished within a few seconds, and Arle noticed she was standing in a large squared corridor with Lala's voice now clearly heard to the southwest of her, still screaming, but with her eyes closed and crawled up in the corner, Arle immediately rushing to her. 'NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! ARLE, WHAT DID YOU DO TO—ACK!'  
Lala was shaken out of her trance by Arle who grabbed her and shaked her around a bit violently, her eyes opening and seeing her best friend intact and looking worried, Lala instinctively hugging her, tears forming from her eyes. 'W-What happened?! Is that even you, Arle?!'  
She comforted her, before pulling her up. 'Yes, it's me. It was all just an illusion.' Though something rang in her conscience when she said that. 'Illusion...ah!" She looked in the direction of where the eyes glimmered from, and rushed over there, Lala wiping her tears away and regaining her composure.

'Hsss...so you managed to purge it...' Arle recognized the towering slimy humanoid creature standing in the hallway, torn robes hiding the more appaling parts of his body, though weird tentacle-like appendages made up his feet that appeared under his robes, and his face wasn't exactly refined, his bulbous white eyes sticking out from where his eyesockets used to be and a few strains of blue hair hanging across his face.

"Fudoushi...should have known this.' She bit her lip in anger. 'I'll get back at you for pulling this on Lala!' He cackled in wheezing sound, the magic guru aching his head backwards before snapping it back, his red eyes glaring at the girl. 'Hurrgh...master does not wish for more intruders...now be lost in darkness and fright once more!' He chanted a spell, causing the black fog to materialize again, but Lala managed to fling a sharp ice shard towards Fudoushi while chanting it, it piercing through the fog and frightened him as it shattered near his appendages, Arle taking the chance and teamed up with Lala to create a massive fireball which radiated a bright light, Fudoushi squeaking in fear. 'No...not the light...it buurns...ho...whuaaaaargh!' His mouth opened up, purple energy purging out of it towards the upper floors, and Fudoushi's limp body collapsed to the floor, Arle and Lala diminishing the fireball, slowly inspected his body if he passed away, but he groaned, recovering much to Lala's shock and she instinctively kicked him, Fudoushi yelping as though the pain was minimal, he felt it.

'O-Ouchie! S-Stop it! Huue...' Arle pulled Lala back, and offered Fudoushi a hand, him accepting it and recovered back on his appendages, Arle still feeling a bit squicky from touching it, but noticed that his red eyes were gone, it being a dopey-looking black color in his eyes now. 'What happened? Did something possess you?'

'Yes...' he pointed behind him. 'Something eerie appeared here while I was preparing for the contest...I felt odd and then had no care about what kind of things I did...AH!' He moved over to Lala, who still backed off in fear, though he kept his distance, and bowed over. 'I apologize if I did something horrible to you, miss...I usually keep my twisted magic in check, hue...'

'Eek! B-But what do you mean, preparing for the contest? Did the school arrange this with you?' Fudoushi scratched his skin slightly, and sighed, admitting it. 'Y-Yes...in fact, I work with the school to serve as a true final test for new children to overcome their fears by masquerading as another illusion, hue...' Arle realized it, as she recalled her showdown with him many years ago.  
'I was once a normal-looking one...as unlikely as it sounds, but I worked with the staff on a potion from a recipe from ages long ago, but I tripped and...well... you see the results with your own eyes...but on the flipside, I gained these illusionary powers...which I put to use like this. The school's fine with this, and I honestly don't mind the confined spaces of this tower, heee heee.' he moved back to the hallway. 'But...enough mumbling from me...consider this a gift for freeing me out of that horrifying creature's control...I apologize once again for letting my powers affect your mentality so deeply miss, but if you tell this to the kindergarteners...I'll know...and haunt your dreams for the rest of your days, huehuehueeee!' He sneered, vanishing in his private quarters within the tower, Arle and Lala sighing as they walked along the staircase-like pathway.

'I guess he's not as hideous on the inside after all these years...' Arle thought to herself, nearly reaching the end of the staircase and noticing faint light coming from the top, though she noticed a eerie purple fog was also hanging there...

'Argh, haven't you still found the golden sphere yet?!' Witch yelled in Schezo's direction as the two combed through the various trinkets in the chamber at the very top of the tower, though Schezo looked back with an agitated look on his face in response. 'Hey, I'm doing my best. Just take it easy, alright?'

Though their searching was cut off when they heard the door opening, both of them brandishing their broom and sword, and banded together at the center of the room as they saw a familiar face and a blonde girl enter.

'Ah! So it is you, Witch! And Schezo's your teampartner?' Arle was surprised to see them stand next to each other, though she couldn't help but crack a slight joke at the immediate sight of it. '...Or is this secretly some kind of date?' Their faces turned red, and Schezo gritted his teeth at that remark. 'S-Shut up, Nadja! You won't fool me again with poor remarks like that!' Though Lala stepped forward, pointing at Schezo while tugging on Arle's shirt. 'Oooh! So this is that weirdo you were talking about, Arle? He has a fancy cape, but kind of tacky-looking compared to—'

'WEIRDO?!' His face visibly steaming with anger now, Arle ignored Lala, and tried to reason with Schezo. 'Schezo, calm down, alright? And what do you mean with me fooling you again? I could say the same thing to you as well.' He cautiously stepped back, Arle turning her attention to Witch, who glared dangerously in her direction. 'Witch, what's this all about? How did you manage to break out of those chains?'

She smirked deviously. 'Ha, I knew it! You must have conspired with those creeps to keep me locked in that dungeon just so you could rig the contest in your favor!' Arle was beyond words, and got upset. 'Hey! I was serious when I said I'd free you as quickly as possible, there were just some com—' She was cut off by Schezo. 'Oh, you did? And what was that whole thing you talked about with that sorceress?!'

'Sorceress?! Wh—AAH! ' They both fired a lightning spell with their combined might towards Arle upon hearing her response, clearly fed up with listening to reason, and approached the duo. 'I've had enough of your lies! Let's take care of these two!' Schezo nodded to Witch's order, and Arle and Lala tried flinging a ice spell in their defense, Schezo parrying it with his sword, and casted a fire spell towards Arle in retaliation, her dodging it by jumping aside, Witch backing up Schezo by swinging her broom towards Lala with a freeze spell heading towards her, but she didn't take into account that Schezo was in his trajectory, and he was stung in the back by a cold spell that made him yelp in pain. 'A-AARGH! H-Hey! We're on the same side, aren't we?!' He turned his sight to Witch, but was confused as to why she was suddenly grabbing her broom tightly, gritting her teeth as the the purple fog that was at first seeping through the cracks in the walls grew slightly thicker, and she mumbled out loudly: 'Shu...shut up! I've had it with everyone backstabbing and criticizing me!' They noticed her blue eyes turning a deep glaring red color, and grinned, spinning her broom around in a circular motion. 'I...I'LL MAKE YOU ALL PAY! HEEHEEHEE!' Schezo was visibly afraid, and turned to Arle and Lala's side. 'What the hell's wrong with her?!' Witch summoned a flurry of small stars, heading towards the group, who took some hits while avoiding others, one of them hitting Lala hard in the stomach, and kneeled over, Arle trying to heal her, and Schezo backed them up by casting a fireball towards Witch, who sneered, casting a small black hole that absorbed the fireball, cackling. 'HEE HEE! THAT ALL YOU GOT?! HAVE A TASTE OF THE COSMOS!' She summoned the black hole again using alot of her strength, but the trio noticed that a asteroid warped in from it, colliding at them with high speed, barely able to dodge it as the impact made a visible hole in the door, and they noticed Witch panting, but still as psychotic. 'I've never seen her act like this.' Schezo got a idea. 'Arle, I'll distract her, you cast something strong that'll knock her out!'

Witch grew more and more desperate. 'BAH! YOU IDIOTS STILL ALIVE! FINE! I'LL BURN YOU ALL! METEOR!' A small circle forming around Witch as she put all of her strength into it, they noticed a large fireball forming above her, and Schezo attempted to interrupt it by swinging his sword at her, but she parried it with her broomstick, and Arle powered up Lala's strength with a diacute spell which enhanced her magical strength briefly, and Lala summoned a crackling thunderbolt, which she launched at Witch, her being caught off guard while Schezo distracted her, being launched into the wall as the meteor spell diminished, the wall's loose bricks collapsing as Witch fainted, though they noticed something behind the wall, a deep purple smoke with a monstrous eye pouring it out from him, and Schezo picked up Witch as he backed up. 'Wh-what the hell is that?!'

'You seriously don't know?!' Arle responded, knowing enough from the feared look in his eye as it gazed at him, as it fired off a powerful laser beam towards him, Arle barely able to make it arch away from him with a fire spell, it creating a hole in the tower, which the spectators outside could notice.

'It's strong...and I used the extent of my magic...' Lala whispered in exhaustion, though Arle wasn't exactly in top shape now either, but looked at Schezo and got a idea, summoning a ice spear from her hands and throwing it towards the floating eyeball, which it nullified by creating a barrier in front of it, shattering it, and right as it charged up another laser strike, Schezo dashed forward and plunged the sword in it's iris with all of his physical strength, a high-pitched shrieking sound briefly heard as the eye started to pour purple mass out of it, before fading away into nothingness, the smoke disappearing entirely, and they regained their composure.

'Haa...oh!' Arle ran over to Witch, and tried to wake her up by shaking her around. 'Hey! Are you still alive?' She groaned slightly, slowly opening up her eyelids. 'Ah...my head...huh? A-Arle?!'She got up, baffled and confused. 'What happened?! And don't think you can act all innocent with me!' Arle sighed, and was attempting to reason with her once more, but Lala's voice drew their attention. 'Hey! Come over here!"

They saw a golden chest placed in a corner behind the false wall where the eye monster resided, and Schezo opened it up, grabbing a golden sphere from it, Witch looking surprised by the look of it. 'So magnificent...'

Camus hovered into the room with his flying staff through the hole, and looked around, observing the damage. 'What in blazes occured here?! I sensed that someone obtained the golden sphe—Ah!' He then got assaulted by Lala, her covering him in smooches, though he pushed her off. 'Not now, please! First...transport!' He ticked his staff on the floor, warping all of them outside to the tower's base, where Arle first explained the situation to Camus and her teacher.

'What?! Some kind of otherworldly eye monster sabotaged the contest?!' Arle nodded, much to their worry. 'Horrifying...I have to report this immediately at the school's staff.' Camus raced towards the village, while the teacher checked around to see if anyone else suffered serious injuries from the contest.

'Hey, Schezo.' Arle approached the Dark Wizard, who was catching a small break from what just occured, and he responded. 'What is it that you want, Arle?'  
'Look, I just want to know a few things from you. You really seemed surprised when you saw that weird eyeball monster at the top of the tower, right?'

'Yeah, I was. I've seen quite a few weird creatures in my travels, but this monster...I've never seen it before, and the way it looked back there...' he shivered just thinking about it, and the others joined in on the conversation.

'Really? That's certainly odd. We saw you come to our aid back in the Nocturnal Ruins when Minotauros got badly injured by one of those things and you just appeared and destroyed it.' Arle explained, his expression turning to a confused one. 'Wh-wha? I've not even been around that area for the last month, and I sure as hell didn't see any of those creatures before! Are you sure about this?'

Rulue jumped in the conversation. We sure are! Mino can also testify for that! You helped us out there, and explained to us that you were going after a sorceress who took your pet or something like that, and you looked for information in Waterdew Town, which led you towards the ruins.'

'Moo. Mistress Rulue's right.' Minotauros added. 'And then you joined up with them to search for more information.' Schezo shrugged, scratching his head. 'Look, I honestly don't recall running into anyone else besides you on the day I challenged you Arle, or even telling you about my own troubles, but...strangely, the part about the sorceress and Lynx was right. I was exploring up north, if memory serves me right...AH!' He then recalled something. 'And then as it was nighttime, I saw a group of hypnotized people following you through a forest. I confronted you about it, but you put me under a sleeping spell, and the next thing I recall, I was at the mercy of that Succubus wench!' He squinted at the mere memory of that situation, and then I ended up in some dungeon where I overheard your voice and that sorceress I was looking for talking about some kind of plan.'

Arle gasped as Schezo described those events to her, and immediately responded after he was done. 'That wasn't me, honestly! But I do know who that was. It was my evil clone, Doppelganger Arle!'

'Your evil clone? Sounds pretty absurd to me.' Schezo responded. 'And?! I can attest to it that Arle was traveling with me for the last two days, and we've heard from people in a village not far away that you've hypnotized and brought the women to the mansion of that Incubus loser last night as well!'

'What?! I don't recall having done any of that, especially considering I was ambushed by this supposed clone of yours that very night! All I recall doing today was escaping from that prison earlier and encountering Witch who I busted out of captivity and made a deal with to help each—'

WHAAAA!

The group got alerted by the shrieking, and turned to where it came from, vaguely making out a person knocking out a woman using some kind of sleeping gas magic close to the forest border, and picked her up, though they couldn't believe who it was that picked up the woman, as they could make out his appearance being identical to Schezo, who was standing alongside them, prior to him noticing the group coming in his vicinity, and vanished among the smoke...

'What the...' Schezo mumbled out, but was confronted by Arle. 'And you were saying a evil clone's pretty absurd, didn't you?!' He shrugged, but looked around. 'Look, I'm sorry, alright?! But what's that person looking almost exactly like me up to—Ah...could it be?' He ran as fast as he could into the forest, the rest following right behind him. 'Come on! Don't fall behind!"


	17. Chapter 16: Doppel's Downfall

(NOTE: This chapter contains some slightly graphic gore imagery that goes in the direction of the darker Madou Monogatari elements from the PC98 versions. Reader discretion is advised)

They followed Schezo deeper into the forest, coming to the foot of a mountain, where he slashed away a couple of bushes concealing the entrance to a cave. 'Wha...a secret cave? You know about this?' Witch inquired, Schezo nodding somewhat begrudgingly. 'Yes...but we've got no time to waste. Maybe he's up to what I'm thinking he is.'

'Up to wha—whoa!" Suketoudara wanted to know what he meant, but Schezo quickly ran inside the cave and the rest following suit, it quickly becoming darker inside with torches inside the cave lighting up the complex maze. Though unbeknownst to them, something emerged from the entrance's walls...

'This place...' Arle mumbled to herself, it eerily being familiar to her as they continued to trail Schezo, until they came to a halt when Schezo did so around the corner, a few bumping each other harshly. 'Ow! Hey, what's the big deal?!' Draco shouted, Schezo gesturing for her to remain quiet, but the figure in the hallway noticed them, much to his annoyance, and confronted them.

'Shit...persistent pests, aren't you?' A devilish grin formed as he glanced at the group, chills going down their spines from the way he looked at them alone. 'I won't let you idiots interrupt the ritual, nor will I let you leave this place alive!' He shouted out loud: 'COME FORTH, PET, SHRED THESE INTRUDERS TO PIECES!' a vicious large feline emerging behind him, hissing at the group with his sharp sabretooth-like fangs, and pupil-less eyes squinting to intimidate them. 'Aiieee! N-Nice kittyyyy...' Harpy shrieked, flying backwards slightly, but she heard loud stomping and grunting coming from behind her, Minotauros and Draco also noticing it from back, and they widened their eyes at what they saw. 'Mooo! M-Mistress Rulue!'

'What is i—AAIE!' She turned around, the other creature coming into view more clearly from behind. 'Gruoo!" It being some humanoid clay-like monstrosity with a demonic face and sporting 4 arms, of which the 2 additional ones seem to sprout from his back, all 4 of them sporting a scythe for a hand, and it's body parts partially sticking to the walls.  
'What in clam shells is THAT monstrosity?!' Suketoudara noticed it as well, it grunting as it slowly stepped towards them, the Schezo impersonator laughing as he picked up the woman again. 'Choose by which one you want your flesh torn out, fools!' He ran further ahead, leaving Arle and the others cornered by these two lethal fiends. 'W-What should we do?' Witch whispered, quivering while gripping her broom in fear, though Schezo whispered to them: 'That scythe-wielding monster is weak to fire, expose it's flesh by burning the skin.'

'What? Ah!' Arle could briefly see Schezo trying to repel the feral monster's jumping slashes by slashing at him with his own blade, but Arle turned to the others. 'Draco, Witch and Lala, help me out with that scythe monster behind us!' They nodded, having heard Schezo's whispering and knowing what to do, while Suketoudara, Rulue and Harpy tried to assist Schezo.

'Gruoo!' The monster stepped forward, slashing it's front left arm at Draco, who flew back and got it's scythe stuck in the wall, trying to pull it out while slashing with the other, but Draco spewed a trail of fire towards the monster's chest, but it had some self-awareness and used a quick slash from it's right to ward off the trail and almost hit Draco, who flinched. 'T-This isn't going to work, we need a distraction!' Lala commented, upon which Minotauros stepped forward, sniffing ferociously, and tossed his axe towards the creature, it trying to swipe it away, but the might of his throw was stronger, and it cut off one of the scythes, the creature grunting in pain. 'GRAAAO!' Blood started to gush from it's decapitated scythe, much to the girls' horror, but they braced themselves and took advantage of the fact it was distracted for Lala and Arle to both cast a fire spell towards the creature's other two arms from the back, easily setting it on fire and it's scythe-like hands starting to melt off, the creature now wildly flailing it's remaining scythe around, and approached the group, intending to finish them off in rage. 'GROOOOAAAR!"

'Sciah!' The monstrous feline started to get annoyed by Schezo's parrying, but he managed to withhold him, but was starting to lose his focus, and the feline lunged at him, but his sensitive ears were tortured by Harpy's sudden singing, it writhing on the ground in agony, Harpy putting up her intentionally worst act to keep him from acting, and Suketoudara took the chance to flap his rear fin across the feline's face, slapping it dizzy, and Rulue braced herself to deliver a finishing uppercut to him. 'Get out of the way! I'll put him out of his mi—'  
'No! Stop!' Schezo grabbed her shoulders, her shrugging it off. 'No time to hog the glory to yourself, Schezo.' But he insisted, and made her face him. 'No! I mean it! I have a feeling...that's Lynx.'  
'WHAT?! That thing's your pet?!'

'GRUUAAH!' The scythe-like monster approached them, but Draco and Witch combined their might to send a small comet with infuriating temperatures flying towards the creature, it plowing right through it's chest, creating a gaping hole in it's organs, and it started to decompose quickly due to the damage being too great for it to regenerate it's skin, and Carbuncle jumped on the ground, firing off a laser with a stern face as opposed to his usual cheery one to completely disintegrate it's head, and a weird mixture of blood and clay melted on the floor before it completely died, nothing more than a gooey heap of clay lying on the ground, it slowly vanishing in the dungeon floor, Minotauros and the girls sighing from relief, turning to the others, witnessing Rulue just knocking the feline creature out with a sideways kick to the face, it fainting.

'There, you satisfied?' Rulue stepped aside for Schezo to initially crouch, inspecting his heartbeat. 'Yes, he's still alive...thanks.' He smiled faintly to her, her turning her face away, not used to accepting actual gratitude from him.'  
'Schezo, what's up with that feline monster? Why didn't you off him?' Arle questioned.

'I'm sure this is my pet Lynx.'  
'Huh?!' The others were confused, but he continued his explanation, after putting him in one of the cells in the dungeon and locking the door. 'But I think he's been warped by some otherworldly magic...perhaps that evil clone of mine has something to do with it, we've got to hurry!'  
Though as they continued to follow the hallway where they saw his clone run off to and descended a staircase, Arle had to question him about something. 'Schezo...hah...how come you know about this place, and that clay monster's weakness?'  
'You don't remember? This was my old hideout a long time ago, and I created that abonimation.'  
'What?!' Arle was surprised to hear that as well, but she then had some brief memories flash by her head from when she was imprisoned by him in this place, it fully dogging in on her why this place looked familiar to her, and her confrontation with him.

Though before she could question him further, they reached a locked door, and Minotauros used his axe to break through it, the group barging in, and they had a good view of what seemed to be a large circular room, with the lighting showing the Schezo clone seemingly draining the woman's magic through a chanting as she was lifted up in a white circle, Lala and Arle immediately recognizing the woman as their teacher, and Lala immediately screamed her name, slinging a thunder spell towards Doppelganger Schezo, him deflecting it to the side as he turned to face them, his face twitching from anger and annoyance. 'You...idiots! Fools! I'm this close to attaining more power...more power to justify my existence as the Dark Wizard, and to eradicate my worthless side!' He pointed in frustration towards Schezo, who branded his sword, approaching him. 'You're insane...it all makes sense to me now...' The clone cackled. 'Oh, just now?! Pathetic worm, always so thick-headed and restrained by morality...I loathe you!' He drew his sword as well, casting a dark wave spell towards him, who barely slashed it aside. 'I DESPISE YOU! I WANT YOU DEAD SO I CAN TAKE ALL OF YOU!' Schezo responded with swinging a fire spell of his own towards his Doppelganger self, who simply deflected it back at him, him being knocked back. 'Urgh!'

His clone grinned maliciously, his sanity starting to slip. 'Hahaha...I should be grateful to that sorceress for releasing me...releasing me out of my dormant state after enduring the humiliation and resistance you put me through! First, I'll kill you and your friends, and then...I'll take all of this woman here at the cost of her life!' He pointed towards the teacher, still hovering in a trance of suspended sleep, before turning his attention to them. 'Then...THE SAME TO YOUR CORPSES AND TO FULFILL THE RUNELORD'S WISHES!' Lala responded with another thunder spell, which he deflected to the side once more. ' I won't let you kill her!'

Doppelganger Schezo grinned maliciously, licking his lips. 'You...blonde brat, I'll enjoy feasting on your agony before I'll drain you...' She stepped back. 'You...you psycho!' He cackled briefly, before snapping his fingers, engulfing himself in a dark aura, and mere seconds later, emerged in a completely different outfit, encased in black armor and sporting a more distinct red headband and blood-red eyes revealing his true colors, and materialized a more sharper-looking blade in the form of a Arabian cutthroat sword. 'I have no need to masquerade myself any longer as my pathetic good side...now know fear, as I, Schezo Wegey, will demonstrate, THE POWERS THAT LORD YOGUSA BESTOWED UPON ME!' He raised his sword, making the teacher retreat to a sealed room behind walls and closing them, and black magic flowing through the room, magically repairing the door and locking the rest in, bracing themselves.  
'AREIADO!' Before they could realize what happened, Doppelganger Schezo warped to the front and cutted Suketoudara's skin, him yelping in pain as the cut stinged, him trying to retaliate, but he kicked him aside, setting his sights on Harpy. 'Time to silence you...' She was too terrified from his psychotic glare to act, though Draco backed her up by attempting to kick him with a flying swoop using her legs, but he jumped up and stomped on her back, Draco shrieking and falling to the ground in pain. 'Hahaha...this won't take long...' Doppelganger Schezo muttered to himself. 'MUOOO!" He was slightly caught off guard by Minotauros swinging his axe towards him, it cutting a deep dent in his armor, even injuring his face slightly with a cut across his cheek, his grin turning to a mentally unstable frown. 'Insolent buffoon! I'll take out your other eye for punishment!' AERIADO!' He jumped towards Minotauros with blinding speed, though it was part of a setup as Rulue kicked him in the stomach from his flanking side, him squinting in pain slightly, and Arle and Witch tried to cast a spell to injure him lethally, but he disappeared quickly, them cautiously looking around where he could be, but he caught them off guard from leaping in from above, and launched them against the wall with a strong blow of dark magic, them plowing against the wall, shrieking from the pain and tried to get up but Doppelganger Schezo pinned Witch to the wall, grabbing her by the neck, tightening his grip around her, maliciously whispering to her: 'Hehe...I'll make this quick. I know your strength from your quest with him...and after I'm done here, I think I'll pay a visit to your grandmother.'  
She tried to struggle, but with his grip tightening around her neck, and a pale tint starting to form on her face, all she could amount to is a spit in his face, him chuckling as he enjoyed it, the rest barely able to get up as they could hear Witch's faint pleads for help.

'Hehehe, HAHAHA-*SHHHK*

His hands suddenly releasing her, Witch breathing heavily to regain her composure, she tried to punish him for his threats and actions, but she widened her eyes as his expression looked surprised, and a empty gaze filling his psychotic eyes, before some kind of purple liquid formed around his neck in a horizontal cut, and his head slid off his neck, rolling amongst the fog and Witch merely able to widen her eyes in disbelief as the body fell to the ground, the purple liquid oozing from his body, the one responsible for it being Schezo himself, who gently grabbed Witch. 'Are you alright?' She responded with a tight hug to his body, simple tears forming from her eyes, Schezo comforting her for a bit before gently pushing her off him, and the rest got up and approached him.

'Nice job, Schezo.' Arle smiled faintly, trying to get around to healing the others alongside Lala, but then they got caught off guard by a dark explosion hitting them, them briefly falling off their feet and landing on their back, and tried to locate the source, them horrified in disbelief as Doppelganger Schezo's decapitated head levitated in the air surrounded by a blue aura, purple blood still seeping from his neck, and slightly lit irises glowing from his blood-drained white head, almost as white as his hair.

'But—how—AIEEE!"

'AREIADO SPECIAL!' He shouted, the whole room being engulfed in darkness, as jolts of vile magic started to hit the party in the dark fog, their grunts echoing through the room, him cackling maniacally. 'Hahahaha! I am not so easily dispatched! I have gone BEYOND mortality! I ENSEMBLE THE DARKNESS! DROWN IN IT!' He noticed Arle trying to recover, being seperated from the others, and he grinned viciously, summoning a pool of dark boiling darkness close to where Arle stood, and hovered towards her, lowering his altitude. 'I've got a special cruel death reserved for you, the one responsible for humiliating and defeating me long ago when I nearly took full control of that idiot...now burn in the boiling depths of darkness, you bit-

'Fire!' Lala chanted a small fireball spell towards Doppelganger Schezo, right as he was going to ram Arle into the pool, and his hair flew on fire. 'AAAAEIII!' He screamed in agony, his loss of focus causing the pool to close, and Lala rushed over to Arle, helping her up, and Draco and Witch aided from the air with fire damage of their own, further setting his head on fire with hotter temperatures, his skin starting to melt and his eyes disintegrating. 'GRAAAAAA! NOOOOOAAAARRGH! LORD YOGUSA, HELP ME! I AM SCHEZO WEGEY, THE DARK WIZAAAAAAARRRGH!" His screams filling the room, and Arle gritted her teeth, intending to finish off this psychotic pervert once and for all, Carbuncle aiding her as they casted a incinerating laser beam, firing it towards his half-melted skull, his shrieking reaching horrible agony-pitches, his voice diminishing as he denied his demise. 'GRAAAAAAAAAIIIIIiiiii...'

His head exploded in a purple explosion of matter, and the body and sword disintegrating in matter as well, the dark smoke vanishing from the room, and both the door unlocked and the teacher emerged from the sealed room covered by walls, regaining her consciousness. 'Uhh...what ha—ah...' She could feel some of the matter retreating back inside her, it being her magical strength that was drained from her, and the others witnessed that parts of the matter seeped through the door, while the majority of the dark aura came pouring back towards Schezo. 'Nrrgh!' After it was done, Schezo briefly kneeled, before getting up. 'Schezo?! What happened? Are you alright?' Rulue questioned him, Schezo nodding to her.

'Yes...my dark powers have returned to me...' Witch was still wondering about something. 'Really? But...what was he talking about regarding those...Runelord and Yogusa?' Schezo sighed, and started to summarize his past to them in order for them to grasp what was going on. '...I was originally just a student, and on a trip to some ancient ruins, I got lured to a mirror, which pulled me in, finding myself in a strange labyrinth, and this voice, it turning out to be the ruler of this maze, Runelord, told me that in order to escape, I'd have to find and defeat him. I did so, using this Dark Sword here to defeat him, and yet...he was happy, stating he was able to pass on his legacy to a new wielder of the sword and for me to continue to grow stronger. I then found myself out of the labyrinth, but...a few weeks later, I felt horrible, like I wanted to grow stronger by any means nessecary. As if...a split personality formed within me that I could hardly subdue, as crazy as it sounds...'

The teacher stepped forward. 'I think I've heard of this before...I've read ancient myths in the school's library detailing about dark magic that could twist a person enticed by it into a curse of wanting to attain more power, at the cost of their humanity if weak-willed, perhaps this Runelord person you describe was one of such beings tied to darkness, but...perhaps that split-personality was a cause of you being strong enough to resist those horrible influences somewhat.

'Perhaps...but it doesn't take away the fact that afterwards...all I remember was building this horrible dungeon with the intention of abducting unaware people and stealing their powers, not even caring if they'd die in the process. I even created that horrible clay monster long ago with my dark powers which I intended to serve as a guardian of this place...but after you defeated me, Arle...I felt...somewhat more like my old self before entering the maze. ...Thanks.' A sincere smile formed from his face, which Arle for once actually appreciated hearing from him.

'But...' Draco added. 'If this horrible personality that influenced you is killed...does that mean you're free from the curse?'

Schezo shrugged slightly. 'I don't know...I feel in full control of these dark powers now, which I never was since I defeated the Runelord. Perhaps, he and I have been merged as one again, with me in full control now.' Though he was reminded of the Yogusa topic when he mentioned Runelord's name, it being what Witch asked about earlier. 'But this Yogusa, that's the first time I ever heard of him. But if this creature did indeed empower him and it is connected to that sorceress, it must be an incredibly horrifying being, perhaps even a demon or a god...Ah! I forgot about him!' Schezo ran out of the room, the rest following him as he opened up the door he locked the feline monster in, and heard soft purring from a cute kitten with a long tail inside, it happily jumping on Schezo's shoulders as he warmly greeted his long-lost companion. 'I'm so happy you're back to normal...' He whispered to him, cuddling him.

'Heh...never expected him to have a thing for pets...' Arle thought to herself, though she did wonder about who this Yogusa might be. Her trail of thought being interrupted by Rulue. 'Hey, I know who might be able to help us, if you're speaking of demons and gods.' Draco turned to her. 'Huh? You don't mean...' Rulue sighed, waving her hand. 'But first, I'd like to get out of this horrible place.'

The rest all agreed to it, and Schezo set up a spell with help from the other spellcasters for a explosion inside to destroy and cave in the whole dungeon after making sure nobody was inside any of the cells and was completely deserted, Schezo being relieved to close this horrifying chapter of his life once and for all, and the group headed back to the town to get some rest and think about their next course of action...


	18. Chapter 17: Source Unveiled

As the sun was starting to set beyond the horizon, the dark prince was observing the sky from his personal chambers, situated at the highest room in his keep. 'Hmm...another day passed...but what is this weird energy that I feel coursing around this world?' He returned downstairs, intending to go through his ancient library to see if he could dig up any information. '

*BAM!* A loud thud echoed thorough the estate, nearly making Satan himself fall off his feet, barely able to keep his footing, and was surprised. 'What's that noise?!' He ran down the circular flight of stairs towards the main hallway, it having come from that direction, but what he saw really surprised him.

'Arle?!' He noticed the young mage girl running inside, having slammed open the massive doors and came running towards him in fear, Satan himself being confused as to what to think of this, since Arle never seemed to come towards him in a state of fear due to personal experiences with her. 'Satan! It's terrible, I need your help!' She shouted through the hallway as he initially slightly grinned, at least enjoying this moment. 'Arle? What brings you here to my estate? I guess you—huh?' His expression of slight happiness turned to a sour one almost immediately. 'Hold on, why isn't Carbuncle with you?' It made Arle stop right in her tracks as she was nearly facing him directly, being slightly nervous. 'He got scared and wanted to stay at home, but Satan, I need your help!'

'Ah, I'd be gladly to.' Though he followed up with summoning a dark wave of energy towards her, Arle barely dodging it, and Satan huffed, charging up his energy as he started to hover. 'You despicable clone! You thought to trick me once again, did you?!' He saw through the disguise that Doppelganger Arle was using, but he didn't count on suddenly being blasted in the back by another powerful dark wave casted by a enigmatic figure who teleported in while he was distracted. 'Argh! Wha...urgh.' He fainted, dropping on the floor as Doppelganger Arle sighed from relief, nearly having been at risk of being sealed again by Satan. 'Thanks for the backup, though couldn't you have acted a bit sooner?' The figure, revealed to be Cruelia, walked towards Satan. 'Sorry, but we agreed on that he had to be fully distracted in a convincing manner if we were to knock him out.' She rolled him over on his back with her feet. 'You're right though, he's more endurable than I'd figured he would be given how he's apparently a deity in his own right.'

'Yeah, don't underestimate him. He may not be as powerful as your god, but if we'd just allow him to learn of our plans, we could very well be in great trouble.' Doppelganger Arle informed Cruelia, who then had Crocovile and Phoenix come in to drag the unconscious dark prince along with them as they made their way up to a storage room in the upper floors, not far away from his personal chambers.

Inspecting the various trinkets, Doppelganger Arle seemed content when she saw one in particular that stood out, a small black box from which she could sense a similarly resentful aura like hers, and grabbed it, handing it over to Cruelia. 'If you would do the honors of setting this person free. I think he might be of great help to your cause.'

'Very well. Hiyaaa!' Using her wicked powers, she broke apart the box, and a figure emerged from it, much larger than the box itself was, and it got up, grabbing his head in confusion as it seemed to be male, though unlike the other two she freed, this one looked unique, though he seemed to have something visually akin to Satan, sporting similar horns protruding from the side of his head, though less elegant looking than him, red eyes that looked far more menacing than his, and a slightly similar color of hair, though it being a far more bluish-tinted shade of green than that of Satan's, that was being braided to the back in a single ponytail. 'Grrraah!' He growled, getting up stretching himself out, revealing his wings as he scanned the environment. 'Finally out of that wretched prison! Huh?!' He noticed Doppelganger Arle inspecting him, and out of his own visual instinct, he immediately formed a red sphere of energy from his hand, muttering out as his eyes glared at her. 'You! Don't think I forgot about...you?' He took a close look at her, noticing her eyes were a drastically different color than what he clearly remembered long ago, and desisted his attack.

'Who are you, exactly?' He pointed towards her, Doppel smirking as she extended her hand towards him. 'Heh, I'm the one who convinced this lovely lady to free you, and don't worry, I fully understand your rage.' After shaking her hand with slight hesitation, he turned towards Cruelia, who also wondered just who exactly this person was. 'So you're the one who freed me?'

She smiled faintly. 'Yes, though not just because I felt like it. I require your assistance in my own agenda in exchange for me freeing you. Though you could start with filling me in on your name. Oh, and my name's Cruelia.' She stated, the person grinning deviously.

'I'm Devil. I was imprisoned by my former mentor for 'stepping out of line' or some asinine crap like that.' He inspected his own body, noticing he had grown significantly since he was imprisoned 10 years ago. 'All I wanted was to cause some mischief as the next heir to the throne of darkness, but he just disowned and imprisoned me!' He clearly grew angry once more. 'If I can get my hands on him, I'll—eh?' He noticed Satan's unconscious body being placed by Phoenix and Crocodile on the ground not far from where he was standing, and grinned maliciously, forming a destructive magic spell. 'Perfect! I'll eliminate him here and now! TIME FOR PAY-Ouch!' He felt his spell being interrupted by Cruelia, and addressed her, annoyed. 'Why did you interrupt me?! If you'd just let me kill him, I'll serve you unconditionally!'

She apprehended him for acting too hastily. 'Cease your petty revenge schemes for later. Your powers have yet to recover fully from imprisonment, and what if you'd merely woke him up rather outright kill him? You might have very well screwed yourself over instead.' Realizing that she has a valid point, Devil desisted, and begrudgingly nodded. '...Very well then. Than what do you require from me?'

She grinned, opening a portal from which one of those eerie eyeballs materialized from inside the castle. 'I'll explain when we get out of here, but while we can't kill this Satan figure outright, we could let our master...erase his memories of this little incident forcefully, and even torture him slightly.' Devil and Doppel both agreed to it, liking that prospect, and she ordered Crocovile and Phoenix to carry Satan's body off somewhere and lock him up with the eye, while she retreated by warping out of the castle with the other two, commanding them to not lag behind when they're done...

Meanwhile, Arle and her friends were having a personal celebration at her parents' house, tem surprisingly having had enough food for many to eat from, and they were happy to gain a much-needed break. Though Arle was sitting on a chair close to the window, Carbuncle ruffling through her hair, though Rulue and Schezo then approached Arle, both curious what she was up to.  
'Hey, Arle.' Schezo first addressed her, to which she turned her head around. 'Huh? Oh, Schezo. Did you want to tell me something?' Though Carbuncle and Lynx started to play with each other, hopping around the room. 'Actually, I was going to ask you something.' Though Arle couldn't help but think it was related to her powers or some other asinine thing that she's usually accustomed to from him, it wasn't connected to that in the slightest. 'I...would like to assist you on your journey.' Rulue was surprised by this as well. 'Really?!'  
He nodded. 'I may be...arrogant as you may call me that, but I'm not one to deny paying back someone who helped me out. This whole thing my evil self got involved with might be nasty, and I'm still searching for that sorceress to get back at her for what she did to Lynx. Would you accept my help?' Arle smiled, shaking his hand. 'We'd be glad to, thanks for being sensible, Schezo!' He turned away in slight embarrassment, muttering to her about not making him regret his offer immediately, though Arle turned to Rulue, wanting to talk to her about something.

'Rulue, I've been meaning to ask...'  
'Huh? What exactly?' Rulue put a hand under her chin in a questioning gesture.  
'What did you mean with who could be of aid to us in finding out more about this Yogusa being? You seemed pretty happy with knowing the solution...'  
Rulue grinned cheerfully. 'Don't you know, Arle? We can turn to Lord Satan for his help!' Both Arle and Schezo widened their eyes in response. 'W-what?! Satan?!' She giggled. 'Of course! He's the ruler of the underworld after all. Perhaps he might know something about that being that could lead us somewhere.' But Arle interrupted her happy thoughts. 'But Rulue...Satan's castle is far away to the west, isn't it? It would be a hour or 3 away from where we are just to reach him.' Though Rulue suddenly looked viciously to Arle, wanting to warn her. 'And what's that supposed mean? Are you inclining that a journey to see that lovely demon isn't worth the trouble?!' Arle was caught off guard by her sudden moodswing.

'O-Of course not! But I'm being rational about this. Look, the sun is even starting to set slowly beyond the horizon.' Schezo defended Arle, stepping in front of her. 'As much as I don't like having to willingly visit that guy, it is rather late. I suggest we'd rest up and venture there tomorrow, alright?' Rulue nodded. 'Ah, very well...but I'd rather sleep somewhere else. No offense Arle, but I doubt you parents have proper sleeping accomodations for our whole group over here.

*knock knock* Everyone inside the houe was drawn towards the door as loud knocking was heard, Arle's parents answering, finding Camus, Lala and the teacher greeting them, the teacher taking the first initiative. 'Good evening, might we come inside? We came here to offer the winner this.'

They stepped inside, with Lala still clinging on to Camus, much to his slight chagrin, whispering to her to not do so in the company of these people, and the teacher handed Schezo and Witch two seperate scrolls, both of them confused as to why, despite being happy to have been offered the prize for the contest.

'Here, you two have earned it.'  
'But we weren't the only ones who found the orb. Arle and Lala also assisted us, and if not for them, I...I dread to think what could have happened...' Witch remarked, still reminiscing about what happened back in the Tower, though Camus answered her.

'True, but Arle and Lala both explained what happened up there in detail earlier in the office, and Arle said she was just concerned about you two.' Lala stepped forward as well. 'Pretty much, and I'm...admittedly not a real spellcasting expert, so I'd figure you two could use the prize spell to your advantage much more!'

Schezo and Witch were both honored to accept this, and opened up the scroll, reading some ancient text. 'What does this entail to?' Schezo questioned. The teacher smiled, explaining what the scroll deciphers.' These text are the chants needed to summon a powerful spell that cannot be summoned when chanted alone. It is required for two to chant these texts at the same time in order to pull it off successfully. That's why the co-operative element in the contest was mandatory.'

Witch and Schezo nodded, though they did honestly felt unsure about having to share such a powerful spell between each other. Though Camus then addressed Arle. 'Arle, I'd also like to offer my sincere thanks to you and your friends for ridding us of that eyeball monster and that horrible clone being. If there's anything I could do to repay you in kind, just name it.'

Arle wanted to say it was nothing, though she then interrupt her own trail of thoughts, saying there was something he could help them out with...

After saying goodbye to her parents, the teacher and Lala, Camus chanted out a strong warp spell that encircled Arle's group, them vanishing in a blue aura and zipping across the sky towards the west...

A few seconds later, they found themselves practically in front of the massive castle belonging to Satan, a tall tower stationed above the castle itself. 'Impressive...nicely done.' Schezo complimented Camus, who was panting somewhat. 'Ah! Camus, are you alright?!' Arle tried helping Camus up, but he assured them he was fine. 'Do not worry about me. It's just that I've never teleported so many people to a location at once, it takes alot out of my magical resources...I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to return to the village now and rest up.'

Arle nodded, and the the group all waved Camus goodbye, as he hopped on his staff, lifting skywards before turning towards the east. 'Good luck on your journey, Arle!' Camus shouted as he zipped off, Rulue turning with hearts practically forming in her eyes as she turned towards the castle. 'Oh, my darling Lord Satan...your lovely fiancé is here!' Minotauros sighed in frustration, whispering in range f the whole group to hear. 'Not this again...' He tapped her on the shoulder, her reacting fiercely with flames in her eyes. 'What is it, Mino?!' He flinched from seeing her reaction, but tried to talk sense in her. 'M-Mistress Rulue, I understand your...affection for Lord Satan, but please try to keep it aside for now. We're here to question him, not pay him a casual visit.'

'I know! Now shush!' She barked towards him, turning her attention towards the group. 'Alright, follow me, everyone, and you better behave yourselves around Lord Satan!' Everyone couldn't help but giggle behind Rulue's back, though Draco and Schezo just sighed, not understanding whatever she saw in that demonic overlord.

Approaching the massive door to his estate, Rulue shouted in a lovely voice: 'Oh yohooo! My dear Satan! Your ever-so-loyal fiancé has arrived!' Dead silence was their answer, to which Arle tried addressing Rulue. 'Rulue, maybe we should just let ourselves in?'  
She pushed Arle back in frustration. 'Don't interrupt me, or get any funny idea's, Arle! Satan's attention is mine alone! Satan! I simply want to request you to let me and my group of...associates in for something private.'

Dead silence was their answer once more, with Rulue having had enough, stepping back a few steps, and ran towards the door, kicking it open with a flying kick, the doors slamming against the walls, and everyone entered inside. 'There! Not even my fiancé will just simply ignore me!' Rulue shouted through the estate, though they soon knew why it was so silent, as a purple smoke was coming from the staircase up ahead beyond the main hall. 'Ah! That smoke...SATAN!' Rulue hurried towards the staircase, everyone else following her, leading up to his personal chambers, which she tried to open, but was locked forcefully. 'Hrrngh! Damnit! Mino, you do the honors! If my darling gets mad about breaking his property, I won't be the one held responsible for it!' Minotauros begrudgingly complied. 'But you're still the one ordering me to...MOOO!" Charging through the door with his axe, Minotauros opened it forcefully, and much to their suspicion, a thick smoke was engulfing the room, with a large eyeball hovering over Satan, who was grunting in pain as he grabbed his head. 'Hnnrrgh! S-Stop! I-I beg of you...'

'H-HOLD ON, MY DARLING!' Rulue shouted, turning towards the others. 'What are you standing around for?! Help me out here!' They complied with the fact that they needed Satan for their own ends, and with their combined might, they took the sole eye down without too much trouble, it exploding in purple matter, the fog vanishing, the party seeing a massive amount of Carbuncle-themed stuff around the room, it ranging from tiles with his image engraved all over them to dolls of him lying around the floor. 'W-Wow...is he really missiiiing that little guy?' Harpy pointed to Carbuncle, who just retreated back to Arle, her sighing. 'Still the same as always...oh, he's coming by!'

'Urgh...Satan got up, being exhausted, with Rulue rushing to his aid. 'Lord Satan! Are you alright?! Can you breathe?!' Satan grunted in slight pain as Rulue pulled him up too forcibly. 'Argh! N-not so fast! Haa...uooh...my head...it feels as if I've been put through a giant spinning wheel...'Regaining his vision and composure, he was surprised by this many people inside his chambers, moreso, what they were doing here. 'W-What are you people doing here? And...Arle and Carbuncle too?! Oh, what great joy!" He tried running over to Carbuncle, but he shoo'd away, hopping over Witch's head, Satan sighing in disappointment. 'Alas...' Though Rulue tapped Satan on the shoulder rather impatiently. 'Excuse me, darling...but I've just saved your life!' He turned around, looking bewildered from that remark when met with her gaze and embrace. 'S-Seriously?!'  
'RULUE!' Everyone in the room shouted, glaring angrily at her, looking embarrassed in response, and let go of Satan's shoulders. 'Oh, and these people helped me out greatly as well.'

Satan turned his attention towards the others, bowing politely in response. 'It seems I do indeed ow you gratitude...though I do have some questions as to what's exactly going on...'  
'As do we, Satan.' Schezo responded, the group explaining what was going on, and what lead them to come over here.

...And that's how we were forced to barge into yer fancy little place and saw that huge eyeball monster messing you up real good, your vileness!' Suketoudara said, grinning slightly trying to sound humourous, though Satan did take this dreadfully serious. 'This eyeball monster? Now that you say it, I do recall something in the form of a huge eye glaring at me as I woke up, before it put me through hell...figuratively speaking, that is...and also that you appeared in here prior to that, Arle...'

' 'What?!' Rulue angrily stormed towards Arle, bolding her fist in front of her face. 'I TOLD YOU TO KEEP YOURSELF AWAY FROM MY DARLING, NADJA!' She yelled loudly towards her, Arle grabbing her ears in pain. 'Argh! It wasn't me, Rulue!' She truthfully confessed, with Satan backing her up. 'Rulue, desist, will you?!'  
' Ack! S-Sorry, milord...' She backed off, rubbing Arle's shoulder in a apologetic manner. 'But it wasn't Arle herself. It was that malicious clone of her who tricked me before, but she somehow managed to escape.' Satan explained further.

'Doppelganger Arle.' She responded. 'Do you know why she was here?' Satan shrugged his head. 'I have no idea. All I recall was that I was struck by a horrifyingly strong magical attack that made me lose consciousness, and then I woke up to see that eyeball monster.'

Minotauros then questioned him. 'Moo...does the name 'Yogusa' ring any bells to you by any chance?' "Mino!' Rulue added, him bowing down politely. '...Milord.'

Satan looked upwards, thinking deeply. 'Not that I recall right off the bat, but I did hear about such a name like that in a ancient book I read during my decennia-long studies before becoming the ruler of darkness. I think this very same book might still be in the library inside my castle.'

'Could you please find it?' Draco requested. 'You're our only lead onto finding out more about these freaky plants and monsters creeping up!' Satan nodded, understanding the situation. 'Right. I'll try to scour the library immediately for that book. As for all of you...' He looked outside of a tower window briefly, noticing it was starting to get dark now. 'If it means a proper payment for saving me, you can all rest up in here tonight and are even permitted to walk around freely in here before turning in to your private chambers, but this room is off limits for understandable reasons!'

They nodded, understanding that, but outside of his personal chambers, Schezo did ask Satan further as he walked off towards the library section. 'But...do you truly have this many spare guest rooms for all of us?' He smirked deviously in response. 'Naturally. I might be the ruler of hell, but I know how to have guests over. If I find anything, I'll announce it for all of you to meet at the library.

Going their own ways for a bit, they relaxed a bit, while Satan scourged his library section for anything detailing this 'Yogusa' creature they mentioned. A hour or so later, he shouted for them to gather at the library, and they all gathered around a table, as Satan showed them the page detailing Yogusa, a text in eery writing describing him. 'Here it is, listen carefully:

'' **Yogusa, the Deity of Dimensions'**

''We cannot comprehend what he exactly is, but... this being lives by his own, in dimensions it creates, using his omnipotent powers. It seems to harvest other worlds for his own ends...most likely feeding himself off it. Yet it seems merely empty worlds are not enough. He found the negative energy of living beings are far more nutritious to him than just feeding off empty worlds. To those ends, he extends parts of himself, separating it from his main body and in lesser strength in order to cross the boundaries of dimensions in the form of gruesome eyes, instilling horrible fear to those it runs into, and seeds his influence across the world in order to fuel his prey more...then he appears, intending to bring out doom to our world and erase us from existence... but we managed to fight him off, shrieking his name as he vanished in the dimensional gap...despite the damage done to our world.'

'That's all.' Satan concluded, showing the next page was a different topic entirely, and everyone was horrified to read about it. 'This Yogusa...he sounds like the stuff of nightmaaaares!' Harpy nearly shrieked, her face turning as white as her dress, but Arle kept a calm composure. 'We can't let ourselves get intimidated by this monster if he's indeed trying to feed off our negative energy in order to appear in this world. We've destroyed a good number of those eyes and 'seeds', which most likely are those plants cropping up over the world.'

'That might be easy to say, Arle.' Schezo sticked to reality. 'But how can we continue to fight him off if we have no clue on where to trace down his attacks?' Arle had nothing to say to that, knowing Schezo was right, as valiant as they might be, they had no idea where to look next, as coincidental as their encounters with those plants and eyes have been so far.

"I can be of some assistance.' Satan exclaimed, catching them by surprise. 'Y-You do, milord?' Rulue stated.  
'Yes. I can perform a old ritual with which to detect great amounts of energy for a limited amount of time, merely seconds, but it requires me to be in good condition, which I'm not exactly at the moment, due to that attack.' He grabbed his head, feeling somewhat fatigued now.' And this searching took alot out of me as well.' I'd suggest us all to turn in for the night, and I'll get to it first thing in the morning.'

The rest all agreed to it, and retreated to their own sleeping quarters, though Rulue insisted on keeping a close eye out on Satan, him being annoyed by her prospect, but Arle was oddly happy for once that Satan was legitimately trying to help her out rather than hatching some elaborate scheme to get her to be charmed by him, which she couldn't believe this whole entire thing was his doing, or that he had some involvement with it. Though as she lied down in her own bed, she couldn't help but get the feeling that something else was out for her...something from the past...


	19. Chapter 18: Splitting Up

The group woke up the next day all rested up, though Harpy still looked noticeably stressed. Gathering together at the main entrance hallway, they awaited for Satan to appear. Though instead of him, Rulue apparently walked down the staircase, and Arle approached her, questioning her.

'Rulue, where's Satan? Is he done with the ritual yet?' She frowned slightly, but tried to keep her polite composure towards Arle with that kind of an question regarding him. 'No, he's just in the middle of starting it, saying he shouldn't take long, about 10 minutes at best. I just came down here to deliver that news and also wait patiently.'

'Right...hm?' Arle noticed Harpy still shivering as she has a generally bad vibe since she learned about what exactly the cause of these plants and eyeballs are, and approached her wanting to put her worries at ease. 'Hey, Harpy, are you alright?' Carbuncle also tilted his head sideways in concern. 'Guu?'  
'I'm nooot...' She squeaked out. 'What we heard last night was something I can't easily stomaaaach, Arle.' She stopped to think about what exactly the transcriptions in the book said as well, it shaking her up slightly but she kept confident. 'Harpy, listen...whatever that Yogusa creature is, we can stand up to it, just don't let your doubts get to you, alright?'

'Sure...' She weakly responded, a fake smile forming on her face, but Suketoudara reassured her that things would turn out fine in the end as well. ''ey, don'tcha start feeling down now, alright?' He smiled with a confident grin, which made her laugh more openly. 'Heheh, thanks Mr. Suketoudaraaa.'

'That's the spirit, we're gonna crush these things and then go on from there.' Though just as the group started to discuss things more openly with each other, they heard something coming from the staircase above them, it being Satan.

'Milord!' Rulue dashed over to him, the others following behind her towards the base of the staircase. 'Did you manage to find something?' He nodded, signaling for them to follow him upwards to the very top of his estate, stepping outside on the circular roof of the highest tower.

Schezo gasped at the sight of this, Lynx nearly curling up in fear around his neck from the height. 'Wow, impressive...such a vast sight over the area.' That remark made Satan chuckle a bit. 'Thanks, but this isn't the time for pleasantries. I managed to detect strong signals of rapidly increasing hateful energy coming from two separate locations.'

'Moo? Really?' Minotauros got curious, wanting to know which ones.

'Yes. One to the north of here.' He pointed towards the vast sea in the north, not far from his keep, and a moderately large tropical island which seemed kind of small from where they were observing it. 'On that vast tropical island, apparently called Wildflora Resort. I learned that in recent weeks it became a new tourist attraction and vacation resort, but most of the people who return from that island claim there's something terrible lurking there, making them flee back home, and even now most local seafarers refuse to even set sail towards the island. With that information and what I sensed just now, it's most likely that Yogusa's influence has reached that place as well.'

'What?! A tropical resort island's under attack by that freak? That's unacceptable!' Draco shouted out angrily. Satan urged her to calm down. 'Might I please continue my deductions?' After Draco cooled off, he pointed to the southwest, towards what seemed to be a vast city surrounded by mountains.

'I detected another source of negative vile energy coming from the southwest, amongst the Steephill Peak region. I can't pinpoint it's exact location, but it seems to be coming from among the mountains. I'd suggest traveling to the town in the middle of the mountains to see if the inhabitants know anything about what's been going on there.'

'Hmm, two locations to cover, and both in vastly different spots right?' Witch thought it over, then suddenly snapping her fingers as she came up with a idea. 'I got it!'  
'What is it, Wiiiitch?' Harpy commented, Witch explaining her idea to the group.

'I'd suggest we split up in groups of two, and deal with the two separate sources as quickly as possible that way. How does that sound?'

Rulue put a finger under her chin in a considering pose. 'That doesn't seem too bad of a suggestion, actually. If we split up in 2 groups of 4, we could possibly solve this faster.' Then coming up with something, she looked at Satan with pleading eyes, practically kneeling before him, and humbly requested: 'Oh, lord Satan!' 'Ack!'  
'Would you please join us and assist us in dealing with this matter?' Though Satan instantly refused, though helped Rulue up if only for wanting her to stop acting so dramatic. 'Sorry, but I can't assist you for now beyond this, as dreadful as it is.'

'Huh? But why not?' Minotauros scratched his head. 'This ritual also took quite a bit out of me, and I intend to investigate this matter more in-depth.' Satan explained, which they understood, even Rulue despite her deep disappointment. 'I see...then there's no more time to lose. I assume we're going to vote who will go where?' The first thing that crossed their minds was the fact that the first source was on a faraway tropical island and that no sailors would dare go to that place.

'Look, missy. The vast sea between us and that island seems really rough from what I'm seeing here. No offense, but I sure as hell ain't gonna risk my life health swimming all the way through those rough tides just to reach that island.' Suketoudara stated, insisting on joining the group that would go to the mountains.

'Right, I understand, Suketoudara.' Rulue thought about it further, but Draco got a bright idea. 'Wait, I know what would solve this. Those of us who can fly could reach the island in about an hour or so by flying, right?' Harpy agreed with that idea. 'Good idea, Dracoooo! The wind doesn't seem rough, and the distance seems manageableeee!' Hearing that, Witch also voted to be on the group that would go to the island. 'Count me in too.'

'Alright...3 for the island, 1 for the mountains so far.' Arle summarized it, but then recalled how tough traveling alongside the mountains could possibly be. 'But traversing the mountains seems tough too. Satan, is there a safe way around the mountains to that village?' Arle questioned him, his shrugging being a clear enough answer. 'No, the only known route on land is through a well-known cavern route to the middle of Steephill Peaks.'

'Right, I'll go the Steephill Peaks then, so I'll accompany Suketoudara then along with Carby!'  
'Guu!'

Suketoudara nodded. 'Right, I'd rather climb some mountains anyway.' Though Rulue then stepped towards Arle's group as well. 'I'm coming along as well, Arle. A hiking trip sounds comfortable with me.' She was joined by Minotauros also joining Arle's group, for clear enough reasons. 'I'll follow and protect you wherever you go, mistress Rulue!'

Though that would only leave Schezo, who looked pretty uncomfortable, with everyone else staring briefly at him. 'Wait, hold up a second...I'm to join the group to the island?! But I can't even fly!' 'Meow...' Schezo also grabbed Lynx for a example, who looked somewhat distressed. 'Plus Lynx can't stand heights!'

'No worrieees!' Harpy gently picked up Lynx, who surprisingly purred at the sight of the pretty angel girl, and didn't seem to be that bothered when she briefly ascended in the air, as long as he just kept purring around her neck. 'He doesn't seem to be that phaaaased by the attitude right now, though.'

Witch also giggled, the group looking at her now as she stepped on her broom, sitting on the front end. 'Hee hee, my broom is pretty sturdy as well, remember? I lifted you towards that contest earlier with no trouble, so this shouldn't be a biggy either!'

Schezo just grumbled, looking to the opposite side for a few moments, but ultimately let out a deep sigh and approached the island's side. '...Very well. I'll join your side.' 'Yippee!' She jumped up in excitement, though Schezo quickly added to it: 'But you better not pull anything funny on the way there, got it? I've no intention of falling in the ocean and drowning!'

The others briefly chuckled hearing that, and with that, they decided to part ways temporarily, agreeing to come back to Satan's Castle either as soon as they finished up, or within 2 days to rendezvous. 'Heh, so now my place is a meeting spot too?'

Arle, Minotauros, Rulue and Suketoudara left for Steephill Peak in the southwest, following the road on the plains towards the distant mountain peaks as they soon reached the part where the ground would angle upwards, while Schezo climbed on the rear side of Witch's broom and held the stick tightly as she took off with Draco and Harpy from the tower, the latter hanging on to Lynx tightly, the air blowing a soft gentle breeze as they glided towards the island...

'Good luck to you all.' Satan mumbled to himself as he returned to his estate, intending to immediately scour through the library section once more in hopes of finding out more.

About 20 minutes later, Arle's group was breathing for air as they ascended the so far-safe mountain path, seeing tall brown rock formations surrounding them as they then looked in front of them, noticing a rather spacious cavern with several torches lighting the way, and what seemed to be a convoy car going through the cave just as they arrived. 'Ha...ha...so, this is it?' Arle pointed towards the cave entrance, Minotauros nodding. 'Seems like it. My instincts tell me we should just follow along the torch-lit path inside to get to the town then judging from that convoy.' Rulue also regained her breath from the climb, though she wasn't at a loss of air as much as Arle was. 'Alright then, we'll head in there as soon as these two regained their breath.' Suketoudara glared over to Rulue somewhat annoyed, having heard that remark. 'Hey, I'm a blasted fish, remember? I'm not accustomed to climbing mountains!' Minotauros tried to reason with Rulue. 'Moo...mistress, please don't be rude to our allies, alright?' Rulue sighed, apologizing to them both, which they appreciated, proceeding inside the cavern... though they didn't know that something was following them inside the cavern, Minotauros twitching his ears as him being the one in the back he could swear he'd hear some faint noises behind them every now and then while they ventured inside the cavern.

Meanwhile, the other airborne group saw the island coming into view, and way sooner than they anticipated, though Draco and Harpy were starting to feel slightly fatigued, and Schezo was starting to feel a bit nauseating from seeing the rocky tidal waves below him, coupled with the rocking of Witch's broom, despite her flying it as best as she could. 'Almost there...' He muttered. Though Witch was more or less steering on instinct, being more or less distracted by her own thoughts, Schezo catching a brief glimpse of her blushing, but was far too distracted with his own sickness to really care.

Finally landing on the beach shore of the island, Schezo wasted no time in running to the nearest edge of the sea, and the girls were disgusted as they could hear him throw up, his body kneeling down over the edge. *wheeze...wheeze* Schezo and the girls took a minute to regain their breath, the girls couldn't help but chuckle at seeing his pale face about as white as his hair, though Witch did show some genuine concern for him, being grateful he at least didn't throw up over her, and the group observed the so far-clear sky and the lush palm trees not far from where they were standing.

'So this is Wildflora Resort? Doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary so far for me.' Draco commented, kicking away a lone rock into the ocean, though Harpy pointed to the left side of the beach. 'Don't be deceived by mere looks, Dracooo! How about we follow the beachside first to explore our surroundiiiings?' Draco squinted her eyes, dreading the thought of having to bear her unintentionally sharp singing notes despite trying to talk normally, but they all complied and followed Harpy's lead. 'If only she would do something about that voice of hers...'

Though right as they turned around the side of the beach, they could make out a couple of buildings stationed not far from the beach, amongst them a deserted outdoor bar, a rental post for surfboards, and a hotel. 'Wow! How about we check out over there for a start? Good find, Harpy!' Witch patted her on the back as the girls all dashed towards the buildings, Schezo following along, his face now regaining some color again.

After spotting that the outdoor posts were indeed deserted, they decided to check out the large hotel building, and entered the front doors, seeing some lights burnings in what seemed to be the foyer, and they shouted around if anyone was in the building, yet there was no response.

'No one here either...oh crap!' Draco suddenly reached down to her pants, needing to use the restroom immediately, and scanned her eyes for any signs of where the ladies' room would be, and seeing it, she rushed over there, opening the door, though she shrieked briefly as she saw a blonde-haired woman at the sinks, cleaning it, which surprised her. 'What the heck are you screaming for—ah!' She was pushed aside slightly as the dragon woman rushed inside the toilet, locking the door. 'Thank heavens I didn't clean that yet...'

After that, Kikimora followed Draco outside of the restroom, greeting the others.  
'What are you people doing here? I thought most of the tourists all bailed from the island.' Though she also looked a bit oddly at Draco. 'Uh, what is it?' She responded, looking a bit uneasy. 'Didn't I see you somewhere before? Oh! I saw you at that old keep during the beauty contest, right?' Draco remembered it then as well, recognizing the blonde-haired woman from back then as well now. 'Ah, right! It's a surprise to see you here again, but there's no time for that now.'

Draco was the first one to explain. 'It's a bit complicated. We're not tourists, but we've come here by our own travel methods to deal with the problems related to what seemed to scare the visitors away.'

'Ah, really?' Kikimora smiled slightly. 'Well, that's a relief to hear. Most of my colleagues and even my boss has already left the island as well, wouldn't be good for the tourism if this were to go on.' Schezo then questioned her. 'But...if you know that something's not right here, why haven't you fled the island as well?'  
She sighed, somewhat embarrassed to explain it. 'I'm in need of cash to pay my bills, and this is the only job right now I could have accepted, a cleaner at the local hotel of the newly opened Wildflora Resort island...and my boss didn't promise me an insurance yet in cases like this, so I can't exactly abandon my post when money's on the line...'

'Sad to hear that, truly.' Witch felt sympathetic for her. 'My name's Witch. These are Draco, Harpy and Schezo.' The woman reached out her hand, greeting them. 'Kikimora. Pleasure to meet you. Just don't make this place any more dirty than it already is, alright?'

Harpy nodded ,though feeling kind of awkward as to why she would place neatness so high. 'Um, anyway, regarding the troubleeees. What exactly went down here? Did you get attacked by some weird...*gulp* eyeball monsteeeer or saw some weird smoke around the placeeee?'

Kikimora shrugged, though put her finger against her forehead, thinking about things deeply. 'No, some eyeball monster or some smoke doesn't seem to be the case. I haven't seen anything yet myself, but from what panicking tourists were screaming about before they left, they were shouting about something big and scaly scaring them off and seemed rather vicious.'

'Something big, scaly and vicious, hm...did they happen to say where they exactly encountered this creature?' Schezo inquired further.  
'I think I saw them coming from the vast jungle area beyond the palm trees in the distance behind this hotel.' Kikimora pointed to a window, showing some lush green wildlife behind the palm trees.  
'If you're going through it intending to find the source of it, please be careful, alright?'

'Will doooo!' Harpy smiled, waving Kikimora goodbye as she was about to leave the building. 'Thanks for the help, miss Kikimoraaaa!' She smiled, though she stopped them, suddenly being reminded of something. 'Hey, hold up for a bit.'

'What is it?'  
'This just popped up in my mind, but a few hours ago, another person entered the hotel, and was babbling something about having come here to vanquish whatever evil was plaguing the island from what he heard. Strange guy, but he seemed nice enough, and asked me what was going on here as well. Do you happen to know this person?'

'Didn't he leave you his name?' Witch responded. Kikimora shrugged. 'Nope, sadly not. Though I do recall what he looked like, seemed to be a brown-haired guy clad in blue clothing and wielding golden armor.' The description didn't ring any bells to any of the girls, though Harpy was thinking out deeply about it, but nothing came to mind. 'Hmm, I see.' Kikimora sighed, saying goodbye to the group as she continued her cleaning. '...Stupid that I didn't ask his name, seemed rather handsome too...'

'Something big and scaly...could she be talking about that weird crcodile monsteeeeer?' Harpy explained, though the mention seemed unfamiliar to the others, Harpy going in-depth about how she ran into two rather odd-looking monsters resembling a crocodile and a phoenix on her travels with Arle prior to encountering them, while they ventured through the vast jungle, starting to see a small river through the thick vines and trees hanging around.

'Hmm, never saw him, but your guess is as good a—AACK!' Draco and Witch were caught in a net trap that was well-hidden under the thick jungle grass, and were dangling high up in the air close to a tree. 'What's going on here?!' Draco shouted in panic, though before Schezo and Harpy could do anything about it, they heard some rustling from a nearby bush not far away from them, and were caught off guard as they noticed a small tribal boy and a big green chameleon-like lizard, who at first seemed to dance happily. 'Haha! Bugs felt right for trap! Huh?' Jumping off the lizard, the boy grabbed Witch's broom, observing it. 'Hey, hands off my broom, you brat!" Witch shouted downwards.

The boy shaked his fists, shouting in her direction: 'QUIET, NOISY BUG!' He then instantly turned to the broom again, ignoring Witch's ramblings about being called a bug. 'This make great spear! Huh?!' He felt the broom being grabbed out of his hands by Schezo, who glared at him. 'Not so fast! Just who do you think you are?!' The boy glared his red eyes towards Schezo, whistling for the lizard to come to his side, doing so immediately with him backflipping on his back. 'Bah! Bug escape trap...but won't escape burning!' Lynx hissed at the lizard, though Schezo was unsure what he meant, but found out all too quickly what he meant when the lizard suddenly started breathing fire, approaching Schezo up close, and the dark wizard had to parry his flame breath with his sword, swinging it aside, setting a bush on fire. 'Ha! Bug can evade?' The boy jumped on Schezo's head while the lizard continued to pressure him by attempting to ram him, the boy pulling on his hair. 'Haha! Ow-ow!' He was attacked by Lynx wrapping himself around the boy and starting to scratch him, them falling off Schezo, and Harpy tried to assist Lynx in fending off the boy.

'Drat, we gotta outta here.' Witch groaned, wanting to strangle the boy for calling her a bug, though Draco noticed that trap was made of vines, and warned Witch to keep distance, as she then spewed flames, burning a hole in the trap, and grabbed Witch's hands, flying out of it quickly as they descended, though they then got a idea, noticing that some heavy fruit was dangling from the trees above them.

'Grooo!' The lizard lunged at Schezo, who was cornered against the edge of the river, Schezo seeing no way out of another attack, but was saved by Witch whacking him squarely on the head with her broom, knocking him out instantly, though before fainting, Schezo could have sworn he saw a red color in his dazed eyes vanish. 'T-thanks Witch...'

'Hrngh, get off, me strangle both of—URK!" He felt a coconut land squarely on his head, Draco having popped one off from a tree and tossed it from above towards his head, Harpy and Lynx being relieved as the boy was pretty strong for just a young kid.

Regaining their composure and dousing the small fires that happened, they then looked upon the unconscious bodies of the boy and lizard. 'Do you think these two were responsible for the trouble on this island?' Witch whispered to them.

'Well, that lizard does seem to match the description Kikimora gave us—whoa!" They were caught off guard by both the boy and the lizard waking up, still a bit dazed with all of them ready to knock them out once more. 'Uooh...head tickles...ah!' Witch grabbed the boy by his loincloth and held him up close to her face, flames spouting from her eyes. 'Dare to call me a bug one more time, I dare you!'

'Whoa! Let go! Me not recall calling you that. Who you be?' He was panicking, the lizard coming closer attempting to defend the boy, but Schezo urged Witch to let go of him. 'Hey, let go! I noticed something. That lizard had a red color in his eyes. Perhaps that creature and this kid were both hypnotized!'

'What?!' Witch let go of him, the lizard rubbing the boy's head gently as the boy climbed back on it's backside, petting him. 'Good pet...just who are strange beings?' The boy scratched his head.

'Look, we were just attacked by you! You really do not recall doing that?!' Draco inquired, though the boy shrugged, the lizard doing the same. 'Nuh-uh! Though...we have faint thoughts of scaring others away...like bad dream...'

'So it was you theeeen!' Harpy pointed to them, the boy still shrugging, now panicking. 'What?! No! Kodomo good boy! Would never do bad to beings who do not bad to us!'

Schezo acting as the voice of reason oddly, approached the boy more calmly. 'Look...Kodomo was it?' The boy nodded. 'We are here to do something about the bad things that have been happening around here. You said you experienced a bad dream, right? Can you recall anything before you fell asleep?' The boy thought about it, thunking his head. 'Uhh...ah! We walk around jungle, collect bugs like always, right Dragon?' The lizard nodded, Kodomo explaining further, gesturing with his hand something scary. 'But then...weird purple insect suddenly appeared. We tried catching it, but suddenly fell asleep after hitting it with net!'

They all knew what was going on when he explained it. 'Kodomo, where did you encounter that strange insect?' The boy tried thinking hard for a few seconds. 'Uh...mmm...no clue...'

They all sighed, having no leads where to search now in this vast jungle. 'Well...back to searching by ourselves then...' Though Kodomo wasn't done talking. 'Wait! Me know who could help!' They turned around. 'Really? Who?' Kodomo gestured pointed to the north. 'Mighty elephant god! He ancient ruler of island and tribe. Knows all on this island. Come, me guide you!' Kodomo signaled his pet lizard Dragon to lead the way to what he was talking about through the jungle, the rest following them, figuring he was being sincere to them, but also curious what he was talking about...


	20. Chapter 19: The Places of Evil

'...I think I see the exit over there!' Arle shouted to the others as they turned a corner, noticing broad daylight shining in the distance. 'Guu!' Carbuncle was happy to leave this somewhat dank cave, as were Suketoudara, Rulue and Minotauros. Though her servant looked behind him, noticing that his mistress was checking her surroundings in suspicion. 'Moo? What's wrong, Mistress Rulue?'

Turning to Minotauros, she shrugged. 'Nothing, but...I can't help but feel that something's following us.' Mino approached her, squinting his eyes and putting a hand above his eyes to scan the walkway of the cave, only noticing some faint figures in the far distance who were chattering up to themselves and the torches highlighting the cave. 'We are being trailed, mistress. It's just travelers like us, hue hue.' Rulue pouted, walking along. 'Whatever, let's just go.'

*thump...thump* *whish*

Exiting the cave, they were greeted with the sight of a downhill path leading to a large circular river surrounded by steep mountains and a large bridge leading to a large bustling town in the center. 'Ah, that must look like the place that Satan described.' Rulue pointed towards it, already eager to venture forth to the town and drink something to get revitalized, the rest following suit. 'Where does she get that energy from? Argh, wait for me! FIIISH!'

Though as they descended, someone was lurking near the exit, counting something. 'Heheh, this'll fetch a good pr—rrngh!'

'Ah, finally in town!' Rulue shouted eagerly as she crossed the large bridge and arrived in the main central square where a big fountain was the main sightseeing attraction, and she noticed several bazaars already around the fountain selling some trinkets. 'Now where can I get something to drink?'

'Ha...don't run so quickly Rulue...' Arle panted, noticing the main town board. 'Goldhaven Town? Guess it's fitting considering the many markets I already spot...' She sighed to herself, though Rulue turned around, looking annoyed. 'Well excuse me Arle, but it's been a long journey on foot, especially considering we trekked through mountains. I'm pretty bushed and first would like something to drink firsthand before collecting information, alright?!' Minotauros and Suketoudara also caught up, persuading Arle to let Rulue go on ahead. 'Moo, just let her go, alright? Mistress Rulue's really antsy when she's through some...intense exercise, Arle.' They watched her run off to the west in search of some decent tavern. 'She didn't have much issues travelling larger distances yesterday though...' Arle thought to herself, but agreed to let her go on her own, trying to discuss what to do while they would wait for her.

'So ya wanna try to ask around here if people have heard of some weird stuff going around here firsthand? Doesn't sound too bad to me.' Suketoudara agreed to Arle's proposal, who looked around. 'Hmm, the town's looking pretty lively so far, and I haven't seen any weird purple fog emitting around the area.'

'Hmm, Satan's predictions aren't likely to be wrong, though.' Minotauros added. 'Remember, appearances can be deceiving, moo.'

'Alright, how about we split up and try to collect some information?'Eh?' Arle suggested, but then her eye caught a nearby water-selling joint, feeling rather thirsty like Rulue did, and walked towards it. 'Hold on, I'll buy us some water first. Rulue was right about that...' She walked up to the merchant selling the water, it being a telescope eye-goldfish lying dormant on top of a briefcase, who noticed her coming his way. 'Fufufu, interested in rich thirst-quenching tropical water? Only 50g per liter bottle.' Arle agreed to that reasonable price, and reached out for her purse, but oddly, it was gone.

'Wha? My purse's gone!' Arle panicked as she reached about, trying to find it in her clothes, the fish merchant frowning. 'Too bad, but if you lack money, I can't sell you anything. Please come back when you do have money.'

'Aw...' Arle sulked off, returning to Mino and Suke who looked at her rather confused. 'What's wrong? Why the downed face?'  
'It seems I lost my purse along the way. Wasn't that incredibly much, but still...do you guys have any money on you instead?' Both of them shrugged. 'Sorry, mistress Rulue carries the travelling funds on her at all times, and I forgot my own spare change back at the mansion...'

'I'm a fish living in the forest and lake, you think I have any need for money?' Suketoudara reacted a bit angrily, Arle resigning herself to her fate. 'Guess we'll have to wait for Rulue to return...'

'Excuse me!' A voice called out to them, looking to the east, a round yellow creature carrying a big backpack on his back and sporting a single horn on his forehead. 'Oh? Hey, aren't you that travelling merchant Mr. Momomo?' Arle called out to him, recognizing the figure. 'Ah? Oh, you must be Arle, yes? I recall encountering you alot on my travels past your town.' Momomo smiled to them. 'But that aside, I noticed sad faces on potential customers in this town...I assume you lot also lost money?'

That startled them. 'Also? Are you saying this isn't some kind of coincidence?' Momomo frowned. 'Well, yes, as embarrassingly it is to admit for a merchant. Thing is, I was passing through the cave in the mountains leading here earlier this morning, and I just found out whilst setting up my stand that my funds poach is missing from my backpack. I don't know how, but I suspect someone might have mugged me in the cave.'

'AAAAARGH!' A loud scream was heard from the west, catching the citizens' attention, the woman causing it running back to the main town square where she shouted to Arle. 'My money's gone! Minotauros, did you grab it from me during our journey?!' Rulue glared towards her servant, stepping back in fear. 'N-No mistress! I'd never steal from you! We just found out that we were possibly mugged by someone in the cave.'

Rulue turned her attention to Momomo, grabbing him up close in fury. 'Is that true?!' He wiggled about trying to release himself. 'P-Please calm down, I told them all I know!' Rulue took a deep breath, putting him down gently. 'I'm sorry...I can get rather upset when theft's involved.'

Pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his head, Momomo nodded. 'Who wouldn't? But either way, I just told these people that if their money's gone, same could have happened to my own stash I was carrying while journeying through that cave.'

'Awoo. Hold up!' A anthropomorphic yet short wolf person addressed the group, coming closer catching their attention. 'What is it, wolf guy?' Suketoudara folded his arms. 'Not to sound like a eavesdropper or anything, but my ears picked up you were in a knot regarding some money being stolen?'

They nodded, making him think. 'Ah, guess you lot fell for her too.' Rulue approached him as well, though thankfully not grabbing him, and remained calm. 'Her? Do you have any idea who it was that mugged us?!' 'Yikes! Please don't get so up front and close, lady! What big teeth you have!' Rulue frowned. 'I take that as a compliment, but spill the beans of what you know, alright?'

'Alright, fine. I don't know much about her, but earlier when I was taking a stroll through the mountains for some exercise, I encountered some kind of woman who had the body of a dog but her upper torso, arms and face like a human. She approached me asking for directions as she was unfamiliar, and I told her what I knew, but after I left, I felt my own tidbit cash was gone!'

'Some kind of dog woman...you said you encountered her in the mountains, right?'  
'Uh-huh! She had some kind of silvery hair and red eyes, if it helps anything.' Rulue's eyes flared red now as well, and she was intending to go back to the mountains right away and track down this dog woman and retrieve her money back. 'Argh! I'll get my money back and pay with a good old-fashioned fist-beating instead! ' She dashed off towards the mountains immediately, though Arle then thought of something. 'Say, Mr. wolf...do you still happen to have some cash on hand?'

Meanwhile, Schezo's group continued following Kodomo without any hindrances as he led them through the forest, it ending with them crossing a large tree trunk over a river and coming across a big temple with various elephant statues adorning the entrance, the temple itself being covered by the thick trees, except for the roof, which was barely towering out above the trees.

'Whoa...incredible...' Draco wowed in magnificence at this ancient building. 'So this elephant gooood is here, you say?' Harpy tapped on Kodomo's shoulder, who nodded. 'Uh-huh! Elephant god knows all, must know what you seek! Come!' He led them inside the temple, navigating them through the old stone structure, various old and busted statues spread around them, and they lead upwards towards a large room, where they spotted a rather large anthropomorphic elephant with a green head plating and adorned in a indian outfit apparently sleeping while sitting.

"Is that—mph!' Schezo was cut off by the boy holding his net up to his mouth, telling him to be quiet. 'Sh! Quiet, elephant god does not like interruptions in focus. If not wishing to be squashed, silent!' Nodding while gently swatting the net away, they remained silent for the net few seconds, until the massive elehant opened up his blue eyes, and got up, yawning, his voice booming through the hollow room. 'That was enlightening...hm?' He noticed the group standing before them, walking up to them with even him stepping normally making the room loudly echo his thudding stomps. 'Who dares to step foot inside my temple, Zoh?!' He initially glared to them, making them all shiver slightly, but Kodomo just greeted him, bowing. 'Mighty Zoh! Forgive them, me lead strangers here.'  
'Zoh? You lead these foreigners here? They must be bold to not greet me the appropriate way!'  
Kodomo gestured to them to do the same, which they did, lessening his tension. 'That's more like it. Now then...please tell me what brings you to the temple? Surely not just to catch eye of the mighty Zoh Daimaoh?' Witch was the first one to step forward, explaining the situation to him.

'Purple smoke emitted by foul forces, you say? Now that you mention it...follow me.' Zoh Daimaoh gestured them to follow him to a room beyond where he was meditating, which were more staircases leading upwards. Reaching the top of the temple, they were amazed by the vast view of the tropical jungle with the temple reaching slightly out above the trees, though what also caught their attention was a rather active volcano hidden behind the temple, which itself was surrounded by a steep cliff with lava pouring along the rocksides down to the sea in various cracks. 'There.'

He pointed towards the top crater of the volcano, it emitting a thick black fog. 'This volcano is usually dormant...but as of this morning, it has become more active from the sudden increase in smoke, Zoh. Perhaps what is causing this oddity is in that volcano?'

Draco was the first one to point out, that entering the volcano from the top was a invite to getting practically burned, as it would make even her get skin irritation. 'Hmm, right. The crater is too lethal for your kind to enter...ah! The mighty Zoh spots a entrance at the base!' He pointed his massive elephant arm to a hole at the base, which was close to the cliff. 'Maybe that might be a solution...but the slight lava leaking from above would make it impossible at the moment too, Zoh...' His stomach then growled, much to their awkwardness. '...Bah, if only she'd bring me her blueberry mixture, I'd be in shape to aid you, strangers, Zoh!"

'She? Who do you mean? Uh, almighty Zooooooh?' Harpy added, Zoh explaining. 'Chiko, a tribal girl who pays tribute to me every week. Real kind girl, truly. Kodomo here knows the way to her home which is not far from here if you'd like to request her to bring me 'the usual stuff, Zoh!"

'Looks like it's back to another jungle venture...' Schezo sighed.

After another trip through the jungle landscape, they arrived at a small yet clear-cut plainfield amongst the jungle, with a house and a cave stationed close to a small mountain. 'So this is where that Chiko girl lives?' Draco pointed out, Kodomo nodding. 'Uh-huh!'  
'Then...which one does she live in? The cave or the house?' Witch scratched her head in confusion.  
'House. She actually has—ah!' Their explanation was cut short by a fireball being launched towards them from the house, warning them to stay on their toes and they noticed a red-haired girl grabbing what seemed to be a staff with a bright yellow orb attached to it, herself being clad in a furry coat and sportinh some strange pointy slightly furry ears herself. 'What's the meaning of this?! Are you Chiko?' She grabbed her staff firmly, warning them to stay away with starting to chant another spell. 'Y-you stay away from me!' Kodomo tried to reason with her. 'Hey! Stop! These not bad strangers!'

'H-How dare you hypnotize Kodomo, vile intruders! I won't let you take him away like you did with Dragon!' She tried to swing a lightning bolt from her staff towards them, but it was parried by Schezo, and Witch immediately followed suit with a astral blast knocking the staff out of her hand, Chiko then tripping as she backed off. 'P-Please, just return Dragon to me and go away, eek!'

'We want you!' Schezo blurted out immediately, making her shriek even more convinced of their bad intentions. 'Argh, no I mean-*thunk*' Feeling Witch's broom hitting him on the head as punishment and to not worsen the situation, Harpy instead communicated with the girl. 'Liiisten, we are not here to cause trouble. We are here to repel whatever happened here, but we neeeeed you to explain to us what happened to you and that Dragon you mentioned.

'Yeah, they not bad, really!' Kodomo added. Now less frightened and paranoid, Chiko took a deep to collect herself, and explained. 'Alright...last night, while me and my pet Dragon were out to collect ingredients for our tribute to King Zoh, we were suddenly ambushed y strange monsters...two being some kind of reptile and the other a bird, and one being a strange woman dressed in purple. They overpowered us easily despite Dragon's strength, and they took him away somewhere thinking they'd have some good use to him. I tried to resist, but...then I was knocked out and...and I just didn't know what else to do... *sniff*

'Purple-clad woman?' Schezo bolded his fist. 'That must be her!' Lynx also hissed being reminded of her. 'Look, Chiko. We were also partially sent here by that person you pay tribute to, King Zoh. He told us that if he could have a taste of your blueberry mixture, he'd aid us in entering the volcano, which might be as good of a location as anywhere to search for the villains who did this.'

'He requested that? I'll make it right away, just give me 2 minutes!'

Back at the mountains, Rulue was practically scanning her eyes around, hoping to catch sight of that dog woman that wolf person described to her hanging around the mountains in her sight. 'Bah, just you wait...rrgh...'

'...ulue! RULUE!' She heard some faint shouting behind her, turning around, noticing her 3 companions catching up to her, panting. 'Wait up, mistress...haa...ha...'

'What are you doing here? I told you that I'm going to catch her, got it?! Don't try to persuade me to give up on that!'

Arle interrupted her. 'We know! But, we got a plan to lure her out more easily.' They noticed the wolf person running as fast as he could towards them. 'Ha...this is nuts...'

'Oh really?' Arle put her mouth to her ear, whispering something...

'Hey! Miss! The one who gave me directions! Are you here?!' The wolf person shouted around as gently yet loudly he could through the area he remembered passing by when she appeared, but no sign of her. 'Hey, stop yelling!' He poked his head upward, noticing her standing on a higher road on the mountain, and skillfully hopped her legs from rock to rock as she descended to his path. 'What do you want from me—ergh!' She scratched her back, reaching out for it with her human arms, the wolf person looking rather confused. 'Uh, you okay? I wanted to ask you something.'

Annoyed, she responded back. 'Nevermind me, just some itching...now what is it that you want? I'm busy!' He started blushing, handing out a small bag of money. 'Well...I never got to ask your name and wanted to thank you formally before for leading the way, so...yeah...' She was surprised by being offered money for once, though she didn't hesitate in accepting it. 'Oh? That it? Hee hee!' She opened the bag, eager to see what it was. 'Let's—aurf!' She winced as she felt herself being grabbed by Minotauros who was hiding behind a rock, her struggling. 'Hey! Keep yer hands off me, ox!'

'Moo! You owe us something, thief!' He responded, Arle, Rulue and Suketoudara now also emerging. 'That's right. Return the money you stole from us, and from that merchant!' The dog woman managed to obscure Mino's eye with her hand and he was distracted for a moment allowing her to jump out of his grab, and she snickered. 'Bah, as if I'm a stupid mutt to be caught like that-ie!' She felt something sting in her back again, reaching out for it, but this allowed Suketoudara to quickly lunge at her, both rolling around on the road as they wrestled with each other, though unbeknowns to them, something came off her during the rolling, it falling off her fur.

A small miniature blood-sucking flea felt dizzy, and thought in itself: ((Bah...almost got crushed...that fur's lethal to nest in. Gotta get away and find another place to sleep in...))

Kicking off Suketoudara, she grumbled, though was surprised when she no longer had the valuables stashed away in her fur anymore either. 'Aiee! D-Don't tell me...'

'Yep, I caught these purses from yer fur while rolling around. I'm as slippery as a FIIISH!' HA!' He striked a pose, much to her annoyance!' Gah! To give Skylla the slip—uh? Wait a minute...that unbearable itching...it's gone! It's gone! Yippee!' She jumped around excited, the others not getting what she meant. 'Uh...what do you mean?'

'Huh? Oh alright then...I was stealing from travelers in order to pay for help with finding out what's been itching on me for 2 days straight now. No one would believe or help a girl with my looks, alright?'

'That's nonsense!' Arle responded. 'And stealing's wrong, alright? It'll make you look even worse beyond just superficial appearances, Skylla was it?'

She sighed, grabbing something from her thick fur, it being the bag that belonged to Momomo, as well as several other pouches that belonged to other people. 'Bah, I don't believe in righteousness, but you did help me out with that itching problem, so...here, that makes us even. They're all from those fools down at the town.' She turned her back, smirking. 'Well, better go to another place and see if I can make some money over there...uh, the right way of course, hehehe...woof!" Skylla dashed off amongst the mountain peaks, the group at least content with that they got the money issue resolved, and travelled back, though Lycanthrope was slightly disappointed following them. 'Didn't even get to tell her my name...'

'Ah, my funds! Much appreciated!' Momomo eagerly accepted the funds bag he recognized was his, checking it and finding it still full, immediately returning it in his backpack. 'I cannot thank you enough! If there's anything I could help you with to return the favor, just ask away.'

'I know something.' Arle responded. 'Do you happen to to know this area well by any chance?' Momomo nodded. 'Yes, I stop by here regularly in my travels. Is there something specific you needed to know?'

'We're wondering if you happen to have spotted a location in this area where some foul purple smoke was pouring from, as strange as it sounds.'

'Hmm...I haven't seen it directly, but if you're talking about foul, there is something possibly connected to what you seek.' Momomo's expression turned somewhat sour, Arle curious what he meant. 'What do you mean, Mr. Momomo?'

'I happen to know many places ripe for ingredients which merchants like us collect and use in things they'll make and sell, one of them being a cave at the base of the mountains near here which is only accessible by means of traversing water which many people living here dread to enter because of how it sends chills up their spines, which they dubbed 'Magus Magashi'.

'Magus Magashi'? How's that eerie?'

'It has always been a cave of which it's insides are described as...unsettling. People brave enough to have ventured forth have different descriptions of how it looked like, ranging from slimy to organic, or even filled with bones...and to top it all off, they all heard some foul screeching emitting from beyond the cave as far as they ventured, it probably belonging to a terrifying beast.

'R-Really?' Arle felt unsettling hearing that, but she was convinced that perhaps that beast Momomo mentioned was that bird-like monster they've been encountering and is putting up a act to scare people away for a scheme. 'W-we gotta travel there. If you know the way there, would you please lead us there?'

Momomo's usually cheery-looking eyes popped out in disbelief. 'R-REALLY?! You're going in there?! Well...you did retrieve my funds back, so...very well.' He put on a serious face, making a deal with them. 'Meet me in about 30 minutes at the nothern ship dock section of town, alright?'

'Got it!' Momomo wandered off to the north amongst the crowd, while Arle and the others took the time to finally get some food and drinks in...and to prepare themselves for what Momomo warned them about...


	21. Chapter 20: Double Danger

'Mmh! That was delicious! Zoh Daimaoh commented on the blueberry mixture that he just finished eating within mere seconds, making Chiko blush slightly. 'Thanks, but you always give me easy compliments, King Zoh...oh, but would you be so kind as to help these strangers out in their quest now?'

'Yes, we would like to venture forth into that volcano's base, if you would be so gracious...' Schezo asked him, trying act as polite and humble as possible to remain on his good side, having a strong feeling that he's one individual they'd not like to have on his bad side.

'Of course, a-hum...' He got up, walking towards the edge of the cliff, Kodomo cheering him on. 'Forth! Stomp ground like hammer!' The rest looked forth in anticipation too.

'...RAGING STOMP!" He shouted out loudly as he jumped upward high in the sky, landing with his feet fiercely in the ground, causing the whole island to briefly shake for a moment, everyone falling to the ground and the volcano erupted slightly, spewing out some of the fire that eliminated the black smog, though it also caused a good chunk of boulders lying to the side of it to fall downwards towards the cliff, filling it up immediately. 'Whoa...'

'RAGING KICK!' He shouted as he jumped towards a massively thick tree, and kicked it clean off the earth it was rooted in, grabbing it and tossing it on top of the rocks to make a safe walkable passage to the hole they saw in the volcano, the party wasting no time in crossing the gap towards the hole, now safe to enter as Zoh tossed another boulder to stop the lava stream above it, allowing the group to progress into the tunnel, the natives bidding them good luck. 'Please be careful!' Chiko shouted to them. 

* * *

'So...ya lasses spot anything on the boat yet?' Suketoudara pondered as he swam along with a boat that Momomo managed to hire, the others on the lookout for anything resembling a cave. 'No, nothing yet so far...wait...' Arle responded, Carbuncle pointing towards something small near the west with his tiny arms. 'Gugu!'

'Mr. Momomo, where was this Magus Magashi cave again?' The tubby lizard-like merchant was still trembling at the thought of entering it, much less agreeing to it. 'T-To the west, from what I remember...' Minotauros squinted his eyes, noticing there was indeed a entrance to the inside of a mountain passage accessible through the water. 'Moo...looks like Carbuncle's on to something.'

'Alright, full speed ahead then.' Rulue ordered as she made the boat propel forward faster towards a opening in the mountain, it's entrance being fairly dark from what they saw as they came closer...

Entering inside the cavern through the dark entrance, they noticed they couldn't see anything at all, besides the faint water ripples from the sea. 'Fire!' Arle shouted as she created a handmade torch from a fireball hovering in her handpalm, and the group immediately felt uneasy as they saw the cave was made from some weird organic matter, even the floor itself looked soft and stepping on it made a weird squishy sound, with what seemed to be eyes and weird distorted mouths plastered all over the cavern. 'A-AAIIEE!' Rulue and Arle shouted, with Minotauros and Suketoudara also quivering in fear somewhat, being intimidated by the sight of the cavern's interior, and Momomo's face turned as white as his tummy, trying to suggest they'd turn back. 'W-We gotta get outta here!'

'N-no!' Arle exclaimed after she was done shrieking, steeling herself. 'What?! This cave looks horrifying! I'm too scared to imagine what lies beyond the entrance.' Momomo shouted. However Arle fell back on what she heard earlier from him. 'Think reasonably, Mr. Momomo...p-people all had different visuals when they entered in here, right?'

'T-True...' Momomo's color returned in his face, as did everyone else's though still kind of trembling. 'But...are you inclining this is some kind of illusion then?' Rulue whispered out.  
'Possibly, but whatever it is...w-we can't back out now. Remember what Satan said? We have to go on if we want to put a end to this Yogusa's scheme as quickly as possible, and the eerie appearance of this cave could be a good front for them to hide something in here.'

Agreeing to Arle's logic and bravery, the small group ventured forth inside the cavern, though Carbuncle was still hiding behind Arle's head in fear, and Momomo confused by what Arle meant with Yogusa. 'What does she mean, stopping this Yogu-something?' Minotauros inched closer to him, whispering it in his ear while they proceeded in carefully, trying not to let the cave's organic and disturbing appearance distract them from their goal...

* * *

*coughcough* 'This black smoke is getting thicker!' Draco commented as she walked in front of the group. 'Then don't try to inhale too much of iiiit', Harpy flew behind Draco, though Schezo felt the most uneasy out of the group, as did Lynx, for reasons they themselves couldn't even explain, but they had a vague feeling they'd knew what could be causing it...'

'Wait...is that...purple smoke?!' Draco noticed a strong gust of purple smoke blowing alongside the black fog as they neared the end of the tunnel, and entering it cautiously, they were greeted by the sight of a joint smoke effect of purple and black surrounding them at face level, while above them, gray thick fog was hanging from the volcano itself, though the pool itself was too thick for them to see. However, besides the thick visual smoke, they could hear cries of agony from some kind of beast, slightly to the east of them.

'GUOOOH!'  
'Grah! Just...give in already, will you?!' A female voice tightened her magic grip on the beast, but her work was interrupted by a stream of fire heading towards her, her deflecting it to the side into the pool just in time, the attack succeeding in removing the purple fog somewhat, though the black fog still hung around.  
'Huh?' Harpy noticed to the far west once the smoke diminished that another person clad in gold armor was lying unconsciously to the side, barely breathing.

'Ah?!' The purple-cloaked sorceress visible at long last to the group was genuinely surprised by their presence inside the volcano. 'How did you—' realizing that it must have been the work of this world's demonic deity to sense her presence in here, she bolded her fist. 'Bah, we should have stuck around to ensure his demise...but either way, you aren't going to stop me this time!' Harpy put on her bravest facade, questioning the sorceress. 'H-How sooo?'

'GAAAOOOORGH!" A booming roar emitted next to her, a large hulking dragon with it's skin and scales about as darkened as the smoke it was surrounded by lifted his head up from amongst the smoke and let out a roar that made most of the black smoke vapor away, leaving a large purple aura still visible, the group noticing another Yog eye to the left, it's pupil glaring eerily at them, though they were more focused on the massive dragon that was looming at them with his red eyes, black smoke pouring from his nostrills. 'Grooo...'

'AAAIIEEE!' Harpy shrieked, Schezo stepping forward brandishing his sword. 'So that's what you've been doing, brainwashing and transforming Chiko's pet dragon like you did with Lynx?!"

'...Damnit, I should have figured that your evil self was weak enough to lose to you...haaah!' She raised her hand, but oddly, nothing happened, and Schezo chuckled slightly. 'Nice try.' Cruelia hissed. 'So you managed to tame the darkness in yourself and control it?! Dark Dragon! Incinerate these fools!' She snapped her fingers, the dragon roaring as it stepped it's snake-like body forward to the group of 4, Draco immediately taking action. 'You guys focus on that hag and the eye, I'll distract him!' She flapped her wings and flew upwards in the Dark Dragon's line of sight, succesfully baiting him as he hovered upwards to fight her.

'Dracoooo!' Harpy shouted, but realized that she had to act fast without being emotionally concerned, and attempted to sing to distract the enemies, but Cruelia emitted a bolt of purple energy from her land which she launched towards Harpy, the knight in golden armor having recovered and jumping in front of her to deflect the attack with his sword of light. 'Rngh...so strong.' He sweated, that attack being pretty devastating, her chuckling, though Harpy retreated in the smoke.'

'Still persistent? I've got to admit that I'm surprised by your endurance, knight of light. But I doubt your light power can truly overcome mine—urg!' Being caught off guard by Harpy swiping her wing against Cruelia from behind the smoke, she shouted to him: 'Take that y-you...witch!' 'Hissing, she responded with attempting to fire a even stronger energy wave to Harpy, quickly charging it up from her anger which she fired to her, but Witch created a vortex for the power to disappear in, reacting angrily. 'Don't compare her to me will you?!'

'S-Sorry.' Harpy remained focused on Cruelia, who was now getting seriously fed up from these annoying creatures, and created a large sphere from her hand, hurling it towards Schezo. 'Shut up! Take this!" It being launched too fast for Schezo to parry it, he barely managed to jump but was launched by it's shockwave towards the edge of the lava, grunting in pain. 'Uuaaargh!" Managing to prevent himself barely from rolling off the cliff and into the lava, he was now feeling rather disadvantageous as he just noticed the Yog eye descending to him trying to make him fall off the ledge, and Cruelia was taking on Harpy and Witch simultaneously. 'Damnit...haa!' He slashed out a dark wave to the eyeball, but it had no effect on it, as it consumed dark power for energy. Glaring at him menacingly, it charged at him, but right as it did, a cross-shaped slash of light aura hit the eye from behind, losing it's focus and allowing Schezo to duck in time for it to miss him, noticing that the gold-clad knight saved him from a fiery demise. 'W-Who?'

'GROOAAH!' The Dark Dragon spewed out fire from his mouth towards Draco who glided towards the Yog eye from above, ascending just in time making the fire hit the eye, it screeching in pain as it fell into the lava, the unbearable heat melting it instantly in a vaporizing puddle of purple ooze, Cruelia noticing it instantly as she shrieked out in agony. 'NOO! Grrr!' Gritting her teeth now in rage, she formed a purple aura around her, pushing back Harpy and Witch slightly, but she directed her attack towards the Dark Dragon, hitting him with a piercing purple spear. 'GRAAAOOOH!'

'Inconsiderate fool! How DARE you hurt Lord Yogusa—ARGH!' Being hit in the back by a combined darkness-infused meteor spell casted by Schezo and Witch simultaneously, Cruelia fell over, barely getting up with Draco and Harpy catching the injured Dark Dragon before it could fall into the lava as well, and Schezo and Witch both approaching Cruelia, ready to strike her at any point.

'Tell us what your master, this Yogusa wants, NOW!' He shouted to her, but she quickly made a dark vortex of her own, quickly shouting: 'You'll see! I'll make you all pay!' Diving into it, Schezo and Witch sighed both from relief and yet also disappointment that they couldn't learn more about their true foe, but at the very least they could take a breather, and question this person in golden armor.

'Who are yooou?' Harpy questioned, believing he was a ally for saving them for a few occasions during that fight. 'I'm Lagnu-uaaarggh...' Trembling on his knees as he overextended himself, he grabbed his stomach. 'Lagnuaargh? Straaange name...' Though the person showed a wound under the plating to his side near the hip, also regressing strangely to the form of a boy. 'N-No...it's not that...I've overextended my willpower...' He closed his eyes, the wound taking it's toll on him, though Schezo hurried over to his side. 'D-Damnit. What's wrong with this weirdo?! I guess I should better heal him then question him further...' Muttering a healing spell, he placed his hand on the knight's hip, the wound closing almost instantly, though he didn't wake up yet. '...must have fainted from the pain. Oh well.' He got up, noticing the Dark Dragon to the side also in critical condition, Witch urging him to help healing him as well. 'Come on, give me a hand will you?!'

Restoring his injuries with their combined healing power, Witch and Schezo both panted as they felt they needed some time to restore their magical strength after that heavy dose of healing magic, the Dark Dragon groaning as he morphed back to his normal form, it being a large yet docile-looking yellow dragon with gentle eyes. 'Gaaoo...' Getting up, the group cheered as he was restored back to normal, the dragon rubbing it's head against them as a way of saying thanks.

'Mr. Dragon, could you please help us get out of heeeere?' Harpy asked, the dragon nodding, arching his neck down for them to climb aboard. 

* * *

Meanwhile, Arle and the others proceeded through the cave, which while still unpleasant-looking and moist, they got used to the visuals now somewhat, though as they turned a corner, they could spot some faint purple smoke pouring from a hallway. 'Ah. Thought so! This must be the work of Yogusa after all.' Arle steeled herself, the others following her into the faint purple smoke hallway, only to hear a booming screech warn them. 'GOBEEEH!'

'Aie! W-what was that?!' Rulue shrieked, briefly holding herself against Mino's left arm, who in response grabbed his axe. 'Prepare yourself, mistress Rulue!'  
'That doesn't sound like the screech of that bird-woman...ah!' Suketoudara was caught off guard by the sight of a large blue-furred demon, sporting curved horns and birdlike features such as talons and a beak, it's glowing red eyes glaring as a sign for them to get out of there. 'GOBEEERGH!'

'W-waaaah!' Momomo quivered, but upon closer inspection, he noticed the demon...honestly didn't seem all that threatening on the outside, and nervously chuckled. 'Huh...is this a large bird that's lost?'

'Guuaa!' He didn't take kindly to that comment, and teleported up to the small lizard, slashing at him, Momomo jumping back just in time, though as Minotauros was about to strike him, he teleported back a few inches again, making him hit the organic wall. 'Urgh! Uh?' Minotauros noticed that despite the organic outwards appearance of the cave, it felt as if it was rock solid from the landing impact of his axe.

Rulue egged him on, shouting to him: 'Hey, furball! Get back to your children's show!' 'Gobeh!' He teleported in front of her, intending to kick her, but she parried his attach by grabbing his feet, and flipped him over by tossing his leg up making him fall on his back, his head hitting the ground that he felt dizzy and lost focus. 'G-Goobeee...'

Suddenly, the organic-like horrifying mass around them vanished instantly, revealing that the cave's true appearance was that of an ordinary cave, but a good chunk of it all being covered in thick green moss. 'What the-it was indeed an illusion all along!' Suketoudara widened his eyes in disbelief.

'So was this birdlike creature working with Yogusa all along that it caused this smoke? The smoke does still seem realistic though.' Arle approached the bird creature, though Rulue was cautious. 'Arle! Don't get too close!"

'Gobeeeeh?' Opening up his eyes, the bird creature got up, and looked at Arle, though his eyes glowed a normal white color now and didn't seem hostile to them. 'H-Hey...are you alright?'

'Gobeeh!' He responded, flailing his arms around trying to scare them, but Carbuncle started communicating with him. 'Gu gu!'  
'Gobeeeh? Brooo!' Arle reacted to Carbuncle. 'Oh, you can understand him, Carby?'

"Gu! Gu gu gu!' He pointed to the bird demon, who now lowered his face, apparently crying.  
'His name's Mamono, and he lives inside this cave, trying to scare off strangers who constantly come in here to steal his food?'  
'Gugugu!'  
'He tried to scare off these thieves but they weren't intimidated by him so he creates these illusions to scare people away instead?' Arle looked at Mamono, who was still looking pretty depressed, knowing that they busted his illusion trick and that no doubt strangers would raid away his food again.

'Poor thing...he just wants to not have his food stolen constantly...' Rulue added. Momomo thinking of something. 'Wait, is he talking about those ingredients merchants collect in these parts that mean food to him? I see now...' Momomo approached Mamono, striking out his little hand. 'Mr. Mamono, on the behalf of the ahem, 'thieves', I'd like to apologize for unknowingly robbing you of food that you resort to this. I promise to inform the merchant chain about your issue so we can work out a solution. That seeming reasonable to you?'

'Gobeeh!' The bird demon nodded with a more optimistic outlook now, though Arle wanted something else from him. 'But Mr. Mamono was it? Were you hypnotized by some kind of strange eyeball or plant thing?' 'Gobeh, bro brruuuh!"

'Gu gu gugugugu!'  
''I saw some weird eyeball thing suddenly appear in my home over there...looks really scary!' Arle knew enough, and thanked Mamono by shaking his talon hand. 'Thanks! You stay back here, we're going to take care of that thing right away!' He gladly stepped aside, allowing them passage into the faint fog, wishing them the best of luck. 'Gobeeh...'

'...Fire!' Arle swinged a spell where she thought the source of the smoke was in the more open area inside the cave close to what seemed to be a lake, only to have the spell reflected back at her, them stepping aside as they spotted two figures stepping forth from the smoke, Arle recognizing the one on her left as her evil doppelganger. 'Doppel...'

'Heh, so you managed to brave yourself through the illusions that big featherball created? I honestly shouldn't be surprised, you braved Fudoushi's illusions as well long ago, hmhmhm...' Doppel oddly complimented her on that, though Arle didn't seem to know who the other person was, who just glared her, his arms folded in a confident, yet arrogant stance. 'Who are you? Another one of Yogusa's minions?'

He chuckled, spreading out his wings as a slight hint for her. 'Bwahaha...really? I'll give you a hint...like what your evil side here says, I'm someone you encountered long ago connected to that idiot Fudoushi, except for well, now being grown up...that ringing a bell?'

As if on cue, when thinking back onto it really hard, Arle suddenly remembers him...the green hair braided into a ponytail, the demonic wings and overall cocky demeanor...''Devil?!''

'I've been waiting for quite some time—no, years to get even with you, Nadja!' Devil smirked sadistically, though he also frowned at the thought of the other person he was thinking about. 'and that preposterous former master of mine, Satan, as well!'

Rulue stepped forward, taking issue with whoever threatens Satan by proxy. 'What did you say?! Are you some kind of Lord Satan wannabe with that hair, horns and wings?' Devil took issue with her remark, and flapped his wings strongly, creating a brief gust to warn her. 'Ah!'  
'Do not confuse me for a impersonator, mortal! I used to be his apprentice, his successor so to speak...but he didn't appreciate my own initiatives to show him I was ready for it, and he sealed me away for being a stubborn mischief maker...BAH! He's too good for his own sake, and that's why I've sworn to get rid of him by any means...which is what brings me into service by a new deity lord who understands me, Yogusa!'

'Over my dead body before you'll touch Lord Satan!' Rulue angrily charged at him, but Devil simply responded with a explosive blast from his handpalm to blow her back. 'No issue for me, heheh.'

'Ack!" Rulue was caught by Minotauros who sniffed at the two. 'You dare to hurt mistress Rulue?! Moo!' Swinging his axe in intimidation, it didn't do much to affect them, but they prepared for battle, the smoke diminishing somewhat for the eye to appear, glaring at the trio.

'Yaah!' They charged at Doppel and Devil, though the two fired off their own spells, along with the Yog eyeball firing off small bolts of thunder towards them as well, but they were determined to fight them and managed to dodge them as they made their way to them.

'Moo!' Minotauros swinged his axe towards Devil, who slapped his hands between the axe, his strength surprisingly matching Mino's, despite his non-muscular build belying his true physical strength, but was caught off guard by Rulue kicking him in his leg from the side. 'Argh!' Touching his leg, he grumbled before retaliating with a elbow blow to Minotauros' stomach making him flinch briefly and dodging another kick from Rulue, he grabbed her by her neck, holding her up as he held his hand to her stomach, charging up a magic thunder blast. 'Heheh, wrong choice to worship that idiot. URK!' Feeling a knee land squarely in his chest, he let go as Rulue's eyes now flared, ignoring the choke hold feeling on her neck as she delivered a kick to his stomach, making him bend over and her following up with a uppercut to his chin, him flying upwards against the ceiling, plowing to the ground. 'U-urk...' He groaned out in pain, underestimating this mortal's strength.

'Fire!' Arle swung a fireball towards her evil clone, but Doppel simply smirked as she made a square glass mirror materialize in front of her. 'Barrier!' The spell deflected right back at Arle, who jumped aside with Carbuncle flying off her from the sudden reaction, though both Arle's didn't notice it, both locked in combat with each other, and Doppel quickly summoned a thunder spell launching it across the floor to her, Arle jumping up, but she kept sending small bursts of thunder from her fingertips to keep Arle on her toes, Doppel taking the opportunity to power herself up, chanting the Diacute spell to make circular dark orbs hover around her, Arle panicking now as she was too familiar with that spell herself to know the consequences. 'Fi—uaah!' She couldn't manage to try and interrupt her though as the thunder jolts made sure to make her unable to act directly, a 2nd one forming from her other handpalm which began circling around her. 'That should do it...hehehe...' She grinned sadistically, making the hand motions to perform her icestorm spell right as Arle was starting to tire that she got briefly stunned by a thunderjolt hitting her. 'Aaieeck!'

'ICESTOAAAAARGH!' Feeling a strong piercing laser hit her in the spine, Doppel was now crouching with dark matter leaking from her back, panting heavily as she looked behind her, noticing Carbuncle who also panted heavily from using so much energy. 'C-Carby...you little—Ack!' Feeling a fireball hit her from up front, she was blown back against the rocky surface. 'Guurgh...'  
'Gu!' Arle ran over to hug him dearly. 'Carby! Thank you!'

THe eye was observing the fight above the lake, waiting for a chance for them to be worn out so it could devastate them with one blow, but out of nowhere, from under him...

*SPLASH* 'Hit him, lil' fella!" Momomo jumped off Suketoudara's back, grabbing a spear gun from his backpack which he strangely gleefully aimed at the eyeball, and happily shouted: 'The greetings from the merchant chain!'  
*TSJING!*

The eye felt it's iris pierced, descending in agony, Minotauros noticing it and taking the initiative to hurl his axe to the eye, the blow being fatal and it exploding in matter, alerting Devil who got up. 'D-Damnit...Lord Yogusa, help us if you can withstand the pain!' He shouted, a dark vortex opening up close to where they both stood, and Devil flapped his wings, quickly gliding over to Doppel grabbing her before heading for the vortex. 'We'll get our revenge, Nadja!' He glared to her before vanishing in the vortex which quickly closed, the crew sighing from relief with them gone and the Yog eye destroyed.

'That was close...moo...' Minotauros noted as he accepted the axe that Suketoudara gave back to him. Rulue agreed, also relieved that this was over. 'I'm just glad we're still alive...Arle?'

'Hm? What is it?' Arle just knew Rulue was going to question her about something judging from her expression. 'Who was that horrible jerk Devil just now? He seemed to know you from long ago.'

Arle sighed, not having ever imagined she'd see him again after so long. 'It's like this Rulue...'


	22. Chapter 21: A Sudden Confrontation

'So that was the cause of trouble around the island after all?' Kikimora questioned Draco who explained it to her upon their return to the hotel, the others taking a much needed break after having barely survived their encounter with the dreaded Cruelia, Schezo silently petting Lynx on his head.

'I just can't wrap my head around how we just managed to cast that spell to scare her off—huh?' Witch noticed Schezo on her right just sitting there, frowning slightly as he petted his companion solemnly on his head, sunk in his own thoughts.

'Hey!' That sudden shouting made him flinch, nearly hitting his knee against the table underneath, and he grumbled to her. 'What is it?'

'What are you so silent about?' Witch responded, looking pretty worried at the Dark Wizard, who sighed in response. '...I doubt we'd stand an easy chance against her even with our numbers if we were to cross paths again.' Witch was caught off guard by that statement. 'W-wait, really? I know we barely managed to catch her off guard and hit her hard, but...do you really think she's that powerful?'

'As hard as it is to believe that, we've got to accept that she has a god on her side that seems to empower her. Though I won't give in so easily like that, I will get my payback on her for what she did to Lynx.'  
'That's more like it.' Witch said optimistically, smiling faintly. Their attention was then drawn to Harpy who wanted to undertake their next course of action. 'Uh, sorryyyy, but shouldn't we head back to Satan's keep right about now and ask him what the next best course of action is?'

The others nodded, and intended to leave the hotel, though they were halted by the sound of the knight clad in golden armor. 'Hey, hold up!'  
'Huh? What is it, Lagnus, right?' Draco wondered.  
'...I want accompany you in your quest to defeat this Yogusa, as horrifyingly dangerous as it may sound.' The others were surprised to hear that. 'Really?!'

He nodded. 'Mm-hm. Having heard your tales about their grueling deeds, I cannot allow this demigod and his minions to get away with all this without staunch opposition. I might suffer from an intolerable age regression curse, but I will not hesitate in aiding courageous warriors in their venture for world peace. Would you people agree to—'

'Yeah, yeah. Glad to have you on board. Now just get moving already, will you? We don't have all day.' Witch interrupted him and walked outside along with the others, much to Lagnus' embarrassment, sighing as he intended to follow them. 'Sheesh...are my speeches really this tedious?' Though his hand was grabbed by Kikimora who looked kind of flustered slightly, and just whispered to him: 'Hey...don't mind her, I appreciate your heroism, knight. Just...don't get yourself lethally injured out there, alright?' Blushing from that remark, Lagnus smiled softly before walking towards the exit.

'Thanks. I-I will be careful out there, fair maiden...er, no pun intended.' He blushed as he walked out, wondering if she was just being nice or if she meant more with her attitude towards him. He had to hurry and climb aboard Dragon's back, the others having already mounted his back as they were offered a more comfortable flight back to the mainland on courtesy of Chiko who was grateful for their help on repelling the evil off the island and restoring Dragon back to normal. Waving them goodbye, they flew off in the direction of Satan's castle...

* * *

Meanwhile, Arle's group made their way back to Goldhaven town, where Momomo was immediately bent on talking with the mayor regarding the material acquirement methods around the area as he promised to Mamono. 'Listen, I'm very grateful for what you and your friends did, Arle, but I've got to address some important matters here in town, so I can't accompany you further on your travels right now.' He said with a rather disappointed expression on his face.

'What? You wanted to accompany us on our journey? But it's pretty dangerous!' Arle added to it, not wanting to involve anyone without them knowing what's at stake.  
'Look, I've thought it over thoroughly, and your bravery back at Magus Magashi made me more confident, and I'd like to repay you and your friends in any way possible. At least until this whole evil creatures-gist is all sorted out, alright?'

'Well, we'll remember that, Mr. Momomo!' Rulue smiled, though she commented out loud on how she wasn't exactly looking forward to travelling back to Satan's castle on foot again, to which Momomo already thought of a decent way to help them right there. 'Oh, hold up! I know something! Go further down the street from here and you should see a building to the left labelled 'Parara's'. One of my more trusted business associates, Parara, runs it and he specializes in fast travel. Here, take this amount of money, that should cover wherever this castle place is.'

'Moo, thanks!' Minotauros smiled, accepting the small coin reward from Momomo, who nodded as he ran off on his stubby legs. 'I'll head over that castle later, good luck!' Smiling, Arle ran further down the crowded streets, intending on finding this transport service Momomo was talking about with the others following her...

* * *

'Alright, we're nearly at Satan's, I wonder if he knows any more about Yogusa's plans by now—'

'Huh?! Grandma?!' Witch suddenly shouted out, much to the group's surprise, nearly making them fall off Dragon. 'Ack! Witch, what the—hey!"

Out of nowhere, Witch suddenly jumped off Dragon's back and on her broom, shouting out loudly: 'Hang in there, grandma!' She sped off on her broom as quickly as possible towards the east of where they were flying, much to their confusion. 'What the heck came up in her mind all of a sudden?" Draco wondered, though Schezo leaned up to Dragon, asking him to follow her, adjusting his course to the east as well. 'I think I have a good idea of where she's headed off to.' Schezo commented, looking rather concerned. 'You doooo?' Harpy wondered, though grabbing tight onto Dragon as he turned around, Schezo explaining it on their way towards what seemed to be a thick forest to the southwest on the surface, a large tower coming into view amongst the dense trees...

'Hnrrgh...' In one of the top chambers of said tower, a elderly woman with silver hair conjured up a barrier to repel the dark matter attack that this eerie eyeball launched at her, though despite her fierce attempts to counter his attacks and movement, the barrier was shattered by the physical attacks of it's companions, an reptilian creature and a bird. 'Skree! Just give it up, sorceress!'

'Haa...haa...' The woman was panting, reaching the extent of her magical powers, as they approached her. 'I gotta admit, you put up a good resistance for this long, even with that hellish maze of yours in your fancy little tower. But this is the end, just...give in and we'll take you to Lord Yogusa gently.' Crocovile threatened her, the elderly sorceress bravely putting up a last stand as she tried to summon an astral offensive spell. 'You think me foolish?! I sensed your arrival, and I learned of the horrors that your 'master' is capable of. I'd rather die than become a pawn of him like you two are!'

'Grr, your choice, lady. Overwhelm her, master—argh!' Feeling a small fireball hit his back, Phoenix was equally surprised and turned around, noticing a blonde-haired brandishing her broom, looking really angry. 'You fiends get away from my grandmother! Now!'

'Witch...' The woman whispered out. 'Be careful, they are—agh!' Feeling herself being struck by a purple beam attack from the eye, Witch screamed and intended to help her, but barring her way were Crocovile and Phoenix who pushed her back. 'Not so fast, girl! We know all about your grandmother there, and we're not gonna leave without her.'

Witch quickly summoned an ice spell, but Phoenix dodged it with a strike from her staff blowing it to the side. 'Skreehee, it's useless to resist. Despite what you and your friends did to us, we're still in a good mood to let this slide, or else we're gonna give you a bad time, understood?'

'Never! I'll never let you do with grandmother whatever it is that you monsters plan to do with her!'

'That's right!" A faint voice called out from beyond the chamber, and all too soon Witch's friends came running inside the chamber, Schezo at the front though they were slightly out of breath. 'We...heh...got your back, Witch.'  
Witch genuinely smiled towards Schezo, appreciating the backup he and the others brought, the monstrous duo backing off slightly. 'D-Damnit...we're outnumbered! Lord Yogusa, assist us, please!'

Turning it's attention away from the sorceress as she recovered, the Yog focussed it's attention towards the group, who charged at them, a fierce battle unfolding, though as Crocovile and Phoenix were trying to hold off Witch's group, the Yog channeled some of it's magical power into summoning a phantom...whose hollow figure loomed behind the eye. 'I...have been brought back? Urgh...I-I will...obey...'

'No...not him again...' the sorceress whispered in fear.

* * *

Arle's group arrived at Satan's castle within mere minutes from a rough ride on a carriage with a wild steed carrying them, and they didn't know how fast to jump off it, the horse turning around and speeding off again, Rulue rubbing her butt in pain. 'That scammer! ''a safe and speedy ride''... I think I need to lay down for 3 hours straight after all this is through!'

Minotauros pulled Rulue along gently. 'Misstress Rulue, never mind that for now, we have to tell Lord Satan about our success immediately-''

'Huh? The doors won't open! Hrngh!' Arle tried to budge it, but it was locked tight. 'Huh?! Where in the world could Satan have gone off to then?' Rulue shouted, approaching the doors as well, though she noticed a note hanging above the handles.

'This is terrible...if Arle or anyone else in her group reads this...he has initiated an attempt to enter this world physically. There's no other choice. I have gone to prevent him from doing so, or die trying. Do not attempt to locate my whereabouts, for I do not want anyone else involved in this, as preposterous as it may sound. I'll be back later...hopefully.'

'Lord Satan...' Rulue crumpled the paper note in her hands. 'Arle! we need to track Satan's location down right now!' She shouted, grabbing Arle desperately. 'R-Rulue! Let go of me, please! We don't even know where to start—'

'GAOO!' The lud booming roar of a dragon up in the sky caught their attention, Rulue letting go of Arle as they noticed it landing in front of them near the entrance.

'Moo! Step back, Mistress Rulue, I'll—'  
'Hold it, ya oaf!' Suketoudara urged him to put down his axe, him looking confused. 'What? But he approaches us out of nowhere!'  
Suketoudara shouted in response, pointing to the dragon's eyes. 'Look at those eyes, those look like ones belonging to a hostile creature?!'

'Gaoo!' The dragon nodded, his gentle eyes reassuring the group it didn't come with any bad intentions. 'What does it want then—moo?' The dragon gestured for them to climb on his back, arching himself down. 'Guess he wants to take us somewhere, Mistress Rulue...'

They ventured towards a dense forest with a tower coming in sight, noticing something was going on at the top floor, though Arle couldn't help but notice that the weather to the west started to look rather grim as well...

'Haa...skree!' Getting knocked back by a fierce slap from Harpy's wing, Phoenix fell to the ground with Crocovile not looking to good either. 'Grr...m-master, please...'

'Doomstorm!' A hollow voice echoed as the phantom behind the Yog launched a dark wave of energy, pushing Witch's group back, the shadow chuckling. 'I...will eliminate all those who resist master...'

'Rrrgh...Dark Matter?' Schezo grumbled as he got up, knowing all too well whose voice it was, even if it sounded hollow.

'N-No way...but his spirit should be gone by now.' Witch clenched her broom as she got up.

'Hah! You know nothing of Master Yogusa's powers! His strengths reach beyond the plane of mortals!' Crocovile chuckled, feeling more confident now with the supernatural backup.

'Now, come again, if you dare—'  
'Fire!" A fireball launching towards the Yog from the hallway, the Yog barely dodged it, Crocovile and Phoenix looking nervous as they noticed even more backup arriving from the hallway. 'Skree?! Not fair! How did these fools even get here so fast with that maze?!'

'I...ha...guided them here with my astral guidance...' The sorceress whispered out, a small light orb in front of Arle's group vanishing as Arle, Minotauros, Suketoudara and Rulue backed up Witch, Harpy, Draco, Schezo and Lagnus' group, the nine of them steeling themselves to take out these three.

'Fool...know the might of Dark Mat—hrng!' Feeling one of it's hollow arms blasted off despite it trying to resist the other magical attacks by a thunder spell, the ghost and the Yog eye both squirming in pain, Crocovile and Phoenix being distracted by Rulue and the other physical powerhouse members of their opposition. 'I...will—'Light Slash!' Lagnus summoned a blinding horizontal wave of light energy with his blade, swinging it towards the Yog, cutting it in half, both it and the phantom screeching.

'NOOOOOAAAAARGH—*BAM*

Exploding in purple particles, both of them were gone, with Phoenix and Crocovile's attention being caught off guard by it's demise. 'SKREE-*thud!*  
Both of them were knocked out cold by Minotauros and Skuetoudara grabbing them and smashing their heads against each other, falling to the ground.

'Whew...that takes care of that...'  
'Grandma!" Witch hurried over to the elderly woman, who was recovering from the ordeal, helping her up on her feet. 'Are you alright? I heard your astral cries for help!'

'Witch...thanks for your assistance, truly...but I'm fine.' The sorceress assured her safety, much to her granddaughter's delight, who hugged her. The others were confused as to what was going on, except for Schezo. 'Uh...why does that woman resemble Witch so much? Is she her mother?'  
'Grandmother, to be precise.' Schezo added. 'Huh?! But...she doesn't look much that...well, wrinkly.'

'It's a side effect of the magic she mastered. Complicated stuff...oh, I assume Dragon reached your group at Satan's castle?' Schezo addressed to Arle, who nodded. 'That was your doing?'

'Mm-hm. I figured we could need reinforcements, so I asked him to wait at the keep's entrance and take you to this place.'

'So...we meet again, Dark Wizard.' The woman walked towards the group. 'Seems like it.' Schezo folded his arms. 'I assume you're already in the know about this Yogusa deity as well, great sorceress Wish?'

'Wish?!" Rulue looked rather baffled towards Witch. 'Interesting family branch you got there, Witch...' Witch glared at her, though Arle interrupted them briefly. 'H-Hold up...may I ask how you two even know each other?'

Wish smiled gently. 'It might sound strange, but this self-proclaimed dark wizard once aided me not long ago from a horrible encounter with a ghoul from the past, that very same phantom figure you fought just now behind that eyeball.'

'Really now?' Arle looked at Schezo, who just looked to the side. 'Yes...I'd rather not talk about it in-depth, if you don't mind.' Respecting his wish for now, Arle understood it, but she wanted to resume the topic. 'Sorceress Wish, was it? Do you seem to know what's going on here like Satan does?'

Nodding, she walked over to the unconscious bodies belonging to Crocovile and Phoenix. 'I do...though I sensed something else...these two, you seem to know them?'

'Yes, much to our misfortune.' Rulue snarked, glaring at them.

'These two poor souls have been struck by misfortune as well.' Wish's statement confused them. 'Huh? What do you mean? Whoa!"

Seeing her chant a spell, a light transparent aura surrounded the reptilian man and the bird woman. After a few seconds, the aura vanished, and Wish opened her eyes. 'Poor ones...hypnotized by that foul god...wake up.'

'Uurrrgh...' Both of them grunted, getting up slowly as they rubbed their heads. 'Why...why does my head hurt...Skree...huh?' Phoenix apparently was scared witless from seeing her own body. 'Skree! Wh-what happened to me?! Why do I make bird-like screeches, skree!"

'Huh? Phoebe, that you—huh? What happened to you?!' Crocovile also reacted very much shocked upon recovering properly, the two of them seeming to act like entirely different beings than what Arle and the others seemed to have encountered them before, Arle stepping towards them. 'Uh...are you two alright?'

'Who...who are you? Are you the one who freed us?'


	23. Chapter 22: Confronting Yogusa

((Author's note: This has been inexcusably been put on hiatus for about nearly 2 years now, due to writer's block and just forgot it existed for a long time, until fans of this story actually asked me about it. Though I've been busy with other matters, I have finally decided to revive and properly work on hopefully concluding this at a steady rate. My apologies for all those who wished to read more, and thought I permanently abandoned this. ))

Arle nodded, but she was as equally confused as everyone else is. 'Yes, but… could you tell us just who you exactly are, and what you mean with being freed?'

Phoenix nodded. ' Oh, yes, skree!' She catched herself on her bird-like schreech noises and tried to play it down to a minimum. ' I'm Phoebe, and this is my friend Danford, it um... it might be hard to believe this, skree-ack, but me and Danford, we come from an entirely different world, one that was attacked and destroyed by Yogusa.'

'Wait, so you two know more about it?' Rulue approached them.

'Yes, as far as we know, life in our world went by normally, until out of nowhere, people started acting hostile towards us in town, we did find it odd, but amongst the ones that acted hostile, we always noticed red eyes coming from them.'

'Oh, were they affected by plants smoking out that weird purple gas stuff too?'

'Yes, that was the case as we came to find out eventually, but by the time we found out the source, those eyeballs gained enough power from the fear and hatred our people emitted, which fueled them, and they begun terrorizing parts of the world that most of our village went into hiding, including us….' Danford shrugged in painful recollection of the events.

'But against all the odds of their terrorism, we noticed heavy thunderstorms and the air signaling a dark omen towards a tower, and we along with a friend of ours, Celidia, decided to head there to confront those monsters, and what must have been the one controlling them, Yogusa.'

Schezo cutted in the conversation. '...And that's when the three of you were defeated and I presume this is what happened to you?'

Phoebe gritted her teeth. 'Yes… caught off guard, we were absorbed into a void of nothingness, as we saw the world being torn apart below before we vanished in there. Once there, we felt nothing but hate pouring through our minds, and we felt like our conscience was put in sleep, like we became different beings as part of a nightmare-skree!

'But this must be the work of that demon, twisting our bodies and minds like this, but thanks to you, we're free. We must try and get Celidia out of that horrible brainwashed state as well, and put an end to that demon before the same fate befalls your world!'

'Skree-dang it! Danford's right. We've must have caused you much hardships, but we do wish to put an end to Yogusa for your world's sake as well!'

'That's really nice of you, thanks!' Witch smiled, but she then realized who this Celidia woman might be, if she shared the same fate as they did. 'But, do you two still know about this sorceress in purple called Cruelia?'

'Yes, that's who we meant, the one we kept calling Mistress in our hypnotized state...ah! Last time she conversed with us, she told us to rendezvous at some old ruins, as the 'preparations were nearly complete'-huh?

*RUMBLE* They felt the floor shaking slightly, as if a light tremor hit them. 'What's happening?'

'...Oh no… it must have started-skree!' Phoebe noticed the sky looking grim from one of the tower's windows, and her eyes turned white from recognizing the same air that was hanging that fateful day. 'Danford! We need to hurry!' The croc grabbing onto her talons, the two of them rushed off in the direction of something to the northwest, Arle trying to reach out to them.

'Wait! Ah…' She noticed the air looking somewhat red now, and thunderclouds began to gather amongst the lightning strikes.

'This doesn't look good. Hey, sorceress lady, can you tell us something?'

Wish nodded. 'Yes, I can sense where those two are headed, as for a good couple of hours, I have sensed a terrible presence building up there.' She closed her eyes, whispering out the words. 'Lyla's Ruins...that's the place this Yogusa is likely trying to manifest itself into our world from.'

'Lyla's Ruins…' Those very words sounded familiar to Arle, Carbuncle reminding her by tugging her hair gently. 'Guu…'

'Ah, the old ruins where I first encountered you, Carby.' They knew where to go, but as if they could count on Wish's help immediately… 'Grandma, can you help us reach that place?'

'I'm sorry Witch, but that struggle left me having to recover my magical strength, while I was trying to build it up earlier to oppose Yogusa soon… I'm afraid that I can't assist you and your friends in reaching him immediately, you'll have to go there yourself, but I will join as soon as I'm able to.'

'Right, then what are we waiting for? Satan must be there, that's what he meant with that note earlier that said he was going to 'deal with this himself'.' Rulue's face grew weary from worry. 'My darling Satan isn't easily intimidated, but that note sounded like things looked really bad.'

As they all left, Wish called out to his granddaughter. 'Witch…' 

'Yes, grandma?'

'...I know this is inevitable, but please be careful, you're my apprentice, and I don't trust your brother to be as ambitious as you are, do you understand it?'

Witch nodded. 'I do, and I'm not alone in this, I got my friends and...him. 'Wish smiled faintly.  
'Hmm, very well then. I'll see you soon.'

Hurrying out of the sorceress' tower, they made their way towards where the storm was gathering, the thunderclouds raging in the skies above as Dragon was still able to dodge them, various old ruins coming into sight down below, and descended.

'Huh… so this is where that Yogusa might appear at?' They all inspected the area, noticing there was a clear entrance in one of them, and Arle went ahead, trying to remember the ancient ruins' pathways from long ago when she decided to investigate it out of curiosity.

'You did a good job, friend, but you've gotta return to your friend now, we can handle things from here.' Draco petted Dragon's neck, the creature nodding and ascending, carefully flying back to Chico's side, and Draco hurrying after her friends.

Though she attempted to remember this warping labyrinth from memory, it was too long ago that she forgot about it. 'Nnggh, is it on the tile to the right or the left? It's so confusing…'

*RUMBLE* *THUNK!* 'Waaah!" They felt the floor rumbling around them and the place rocking like crazy, bits of ancient dust falling down, them looking bewildered as they got up. 'What in the world was that?!'

'I got no clue, Mistress Rulue, but it might very well be connected with what Lord Satan said in that note… it must be dreadfully serious if this and the storm outside are any indication.'

'It must mean that demon's about close to enter our woooorld!' Harpy shrieked nervously, though the group remained confident. 'We can't back down now, guys! Huh? Carby?'

Carbuncle jumped off her shoulder and ran ahead on his little legs. 'Gu gu!'  
Where are you going?-ah, of course, you remember this place, don't you?'

He nodded, happily skipping ahead and the group following suit navigating the maze with him to lead the way. Though as the trembling continued inbetween intervals as they moved on, Schezo spotted something in the distance.

"Ah, hold it…' Brandishing his sword, he approached what seemed to be something yellow sticking out from under the rubble, though seeing it move, Schezo was hesitant on striking it, but sensing there was something familiar about it, he instead decided to clear away the rubble around it slightly and helped pull out the yellow thing, it landing on him as he fell to his back.

'Haa! Oh, thanks-oh, it's you people!"

'Mr. Momomo?!' The group was astonished to see him here of all places, and Suketoudara questioned him. 'Whaddya doing here, you goof? Don't you know it's dangerous here?'

'Oh, forgive me, but after I had that talk with the mayor, I decided to explore these ruins out of stories that some special kind of ore's obtainable here, and I wanted to get it before the competetion could, so I wasn't aware of anything, but with these earthquakes getting more vicous around here, I tried to get away, and then this happened, but thank you so much!'

'Mr. Momomooo, this isn't the time for pleasant chatting, we're here for our reasons, and it might very well concern the whole world.'

'In short, we're here to take on that demon that's threatening the world. If you want to help us like you promised earlier, well here's your chance. If not, you better hide.'

'What the-a demon?!' Momomo was worried hearing that, but realizing after what they went through in the Magus Masashi cave, he knew he'd be up for it, and a promise is a promise.  
'Very well, I'll aid you however I can, friends. And besides, I can't find my way out here alone, so I might as well tag along you people.'

'Great, then let's keep going, we don't have much time-oh!' Witch turned around and wanted to inquire about something: 'Mr. Momomo, did you see a crocodile and a bird pass by earlier?'

'Hmm… come to think of it, yes, I did. I saw them rushing past at a fast pace, I was scared when I saw them fly by, but they thankfully didn't attack me.'

'Then we're on the right track. Mr. Momomo, follow us, please!'

Hurrying along towards the deepest chamber in this vast labyrinth, they came to a massive iron door, and hefty noises coming from the other end, as the quakes worsened.

'So this must be it...are we all ready for this?' All of her companions nodded, opening the door together and were shocked by what they saw, looming at the other end of the room, massive in size, trying to crawl itself out of a massive wormhole, a gigantic green/brown reptilian creature with skinny claws and a massive eye protuding from it's head, and lacking a mouth and lower body, locked in magical combat with Satan, and two bodies close to him, limping on the ground.

'Satan!' Rulue being the first to dash ahead, though she was stopped in her tracks by a energy blast from Cruelia. 'Not so fast there.' She glared at the martial artist. 'You may have been a thorn in our sides repeatedly, but there's no way I will allow you worms to interfere with the entrance of my grand lord Yogusa.'

'Like hell I will allow that to happen, much less bring harm to my darling Satan!"  
'Don't forget about uuuuss!' Harpy backed her up along with the others, preparing to fight her.

'All of you…! Why did you come here as well? I didn't want anybody else involved in this mess, his powers are great…-hnrgh!"

'Hahaha!' Devil appeared from a pillar, sneering at his former mentor who was clearly losing the magical struggle with Yogusa. 'How does it feel to be on the humiliating side for once? Don't think that I've forgotten what you did to me!'  
'And me neither, I've been waiting to get my revenge on you for my imprisonment as well.' Doppelganger Arle added, both stepping forward to defend Yogusa from the real Arle and her friends.

'Hrr... give in… let me feast on this dimension and I shall toss you into a new one, ruler of hell!"

Tired of all the bantering, the gang all went up against Cruelia, Doppel and Devil, who fought back fiercely with their own dark magic, that even with their numbers, they had to be careful.  
It went about as a even battle, though Arle knew that they couldn't afford a prolonged battle, and came up with a cooperative attack, whispering to Minotauros to toss his axe towards Cruelia who was distracted by Schezo who still had it out for her personally, and she easily blasted aside the axe.

'Ha, you think to hit me with a distract-argh!'

Combining their magical strengths, Witch, Arle and Schezo blasted her to the ground with a powerful elemental meteor, Cruelia clearly in pain. 'Nrrgh… no…'

'C-Celidia…' Danford whispered, still conscious and crawling up.

'Aaieee!' Harpy felt herself being harrassed by various fireballs controlled by Devil, who took joy in watching her panic, and Doppel Arle was harrassing all those trying to help her. However, on the heroes' side, they were barraging their attacks so Lagnus could charge up a Holy Cross slice that while it took a great amount of concentration to build up, sliced up clean through the ground and hit Doppel hard, launching her backwards and also seemingly defeated for the moment, Devil distracted from it enough that he felt a fist attached to a missile courtesy of Momomo hit him in the air, plunging downwards as well, Arle's party closing in on them, backing up to Yogusa's side.

'Nrrghhh!' They, however, pressed their attacks, fire, darkness, the loud screeching that the heroes could tolerate, light, every kind of attack that they could muster up, they charged at Yogusa, hitting him enough to make his concentration from the struggle with Satan wane, though Cruelia tried to defend her master by charging a powerful spell while their attention was diverted…

'Skree!' 'Ungh!" Feeling the head of that bird woman hit her front, she lost her footing, crawling up. 'You…!' However, this was bad for her, and it was made worse when they noticed a light warping inside the room, materializing in the form of a elderly sorceress, Witch being glad that her grandmother could indeed make it to back them up. 'Grandmother!"

'You…' She joined Satan in the struggle. 'I'm sorry for taking so long, but I will force you back where you came from. BEGONE!" She made a flash of light emit from her staff, Yogusa shrieking in agony as it backed off, the blast pushing him back inside the wormhole, and in panic, his trio of cohorts also fled inside.

…'Whew…' Arle sighed a breath of relief as the rest took in what happened, needing to breath a sigh of relief. ' I… I think we did it! We warded off Yogusa!'

'Nrgh… don't be so sure…' Phoebe muttered, getting up on her feet again and joined by Danford, who confronted them about the reality.

'What do you mean? Is he still a threat?'  
'Yes...he's lethally injured, but he's gone back to his own dimension to recover. In that rift, there he can recover, to just begin his assault anew, along with Celidia at his side…' They were worried about their friend.

'Wha?'

'They're right.' Wish confirmed. 'A demonic god isn't easily beaten like that, we just forced it back…' if you truly wish to finish it off, you must travel into the belly of the beast, and finish it off in his own home territory.'

'Then what are we waiting for? We should give chase and do so!' Draco urged.

'Don't be foolish!' Satan shouted. 'This god… might be even more powerful in his own homeworld, and I already struggled to keep him at bay for long-?!'

They noticed the wormhole was shrinking, about to close, and Satan used his powers to wrestle the wormhole open, though his legs were shaking. 'Hnnrgh!"  
Wish joined him once more, making holding it more stable. '...If you truly wish to end it as you are eager to, then don't hesitate, and enter, but with caution!'

The rest wasted no time in their decision. They knew what was at stake, and despite knowing how strong he might be, they still nodded amongst themselves in unison, Arle motioning to Danford and Phoebe to join them. 'Come on, we're going to free Crue-no, Celidia from Yogusa and defeat him for good!'

They smirked, all jumping into the wormhole, screaming as they felt themselves pulled into a wave of chilling void space rushing across their bodies, until they saw something solid coming in sight…

*THUD*


End file.
